


Tear My World Apart

by mellocomeon



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Enemies to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Hate Sex, M/M, Riding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 12:11:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12108441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellocomeon/pseuds/mellocomeon
Summary: The questions are a variety of song related ones and private ones. As expected most of them are “How is the song writing process going?”, “Can you describe the chemistry between you two?”, “Who came up with the idea of the duet?” but they are also asked questions that Liam never even thought of being asked like “Is it true that you are in a secret relationship together?”. That one Liam definitely saw not coming. Harry also appears to be taken aback by it.He coughs and shakes his head. The curls flying around. “I’m sorry, where did you get this from?”“There have been pictures of you hanging out at Liam’s place for what seems like a romantic dinner.” The blonde answers, not aware of the charged air.“We never … “ ‘– hung out in private!’ Is not what you should answer, Payne. ‘It’s not what it looks like.’ Also isn’t the right thing to say.-Or: Harry and Liam have been rivals since the X-Factor days. Now they are forced to work together on a song.





	Tear My World Apart

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this fanfiction in late 2015 and have rewritten it ever since. For the sake of the story I have ignored the Cheryl-Liam relationship and the fact that they have a son.
> 
> Warning: I do not own One Direction or the characters that appear in this story. It is entirely fictional.

The sun came shining through his window and made Liam crinkle his nose. He woke up sneezing slightly. His head was laying on his forearms that were spread over loads of paper. He must have fallen asleep while working on a song. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen, picking his phone up on the way and turning it on.

Liam prepared water for his tea and checked his phone. He had one missed call and a new voice mail. He pressed play to listen to it while filling a cup with hot water and a tea bag.

“Good morning, Liam” Liam recognised the voice, it was his manager and good friend, Amanda Smith. “I just came out of a meeting with your record label and I have some news for you. You know that ‘Sunbooth Records’ was planning on doing a big collaboration for a while now and it seems like that finally worked out. They want you to be part of it …and…”, here she paused for a little bit, clearly not pleased with what she had to say next. “…and you’ll be working with the curly one from ‘Stardust Records’.”

Liam didn’t hear the rest of the recording because he spilled the hot tea on his baggy shirt and his left hand. He quickly took off his shirt, held it under cold water and tried to cool the slightly burned skin on his stomach and his hand.

He couldn’t believe what he just heard. He had to do a song with that curly boy. Well, boy isn’t fitting anymore because he’s 23, but that’s not important right now. What matters was that he couldn’t stand him.

Harry and he were both on the X-Factor the same year. Both made it to the live shows, but neither won. Harry got voted out the week after Liam.

Even with his 16 years, Harry was a huge flirt. Tried to get into everyone’s pants and even managed to get laid by elder women. It’s no wonder Styles made it further than Liam. Even back then he used his charm and sex drive to make it further, just like he does now. He doesn’t take his job as seriously as Liam does, doesn’t work as hard and still manages to have as high selling rates as Liam.

It’s always a competition between them. Releasing albums on the same day just to find out who has more dedicated fans. That didn’t go unnoticed by the public eye and soon they were both questioned about the other and their rivalry. Liam didn’t like Harry on the X-Factor and now he hated him. But he couldn’t say that out loud, he was supposed to play it off as a joke and that he and Harry were for sure mates. Even when they really aren’t.

He decides to call Amanda and see if there’s something that can be done so that he doesn’t have to see Harry’s face again.

Amanda picks up quickly. “Hello?”

“Hi there, it’s Liam. So, you called earlier and said something about me collaborating with Harry Styles?”

“Oh hi, Liam. Yeah, that’s right. You’re supposed to record a song with Styles.”

“Well, I don’t want to.”

“Sadly, you have to. Look, I know that you don’t like him, but you have signed a contract that literally tells you that you have to do any collaboration ‘Sunbooth Records” wants you to do. But since neither you nor Styles like the other I’m sure I can work something out with Styles’ management so that you two have to see each other the least amount of time.”

“That’s at least something. I’m still not looking forward to meet him, though.”

“I feel sorry for you, Liam. Let’s just make the best out of it. We have a few appointments tomorrow. First an unofficial meeting with Styles and his manager and then an official meeting with them and your record labels. Then we have a press conference going on in which we will announce the collab and the press can ask questions about it. I’ll send a driver to pick you up tomorrow morning. See ya then!”

Then the call ended. Liam didn’t get the chance to say much and was a little overwhelmed by all this. But he had quickly figured out that he had to see Harry almost the whole day tomorrow. Maybe that’s why Amanda spoke so fast and hung up before he could ask any questions.

But she is right. He can’t do anything to change the fact that he has to work with Harry so he can at least make the best out of the situation and maybe he’ll be able to ignore Harry as much as possible.

Through all these years of official events, award shows and talk shows where both he and Styles were invited, they managed to not kill each other. It surely is obvious that they aren’t the best of friends but they always were able to not make it look like they wanted to rip each other apart like hungry animals. When they had to talk to or about each other they always were nice but quickly ended the conversation or switched the subject.

“Tomorrow will be an interesting day!”

\---

The car picks him up half past 10, his bodyguard Paddy already waiting inside. He even opens the door for him when they arrive at ‘Stardust Records’ where apparently the meeting takes place. Liam always makes sure to be extremely polite and nice to everyone around him. He loves to make a good first impression and never fails to impress his interlocutor.

When they arrive in the conference room, Harry and his manager, Tom Robbinson, are already there. Amanda is nowhere to be seen but he figures that she should arrive any minute.

He makes his way over to Harry and Tom, introducing himself to Tom and shaking his hand friendly, only giving a silent nod to Harry. While Tom doesn’t seem that surprised by Liam’s kindness, Harry stares at him angrily. He starts a basic conversation about the weather and it doesn’t take long for Harry to excuse himself to grab a cup of tea.

He gets along great with Tom. He’s quite a funny guy and seems to find Liam’s jokes funny. Although Tom is such a good company, he is wondering why it takes Amanda so long to get to the meeting. That’s when he hears her voice and turns around only to see Harry kiss her hand. He’s got this flirtatious look in his eyes and Liam can see that Amanda is blushing.

Before he can think about it he moves over to them to disturb their little romantic moment. Who does Styles think he is that he can flirt with one of Liam’s best friends? It makes his tummy turn a little and he realises he is jealous. Jealous of Harry Styles! He does get it though. Amanda is attractive and he would be lying if he said he wouldn’t hit on her if they weren’t working together.

“Amanda, love! Nice to finally have you here.” He hugs her, through that forcing Harry to let go of her hand (that he still was holding when Liam arrived!!) and gives her a kiss on the cheek. He normally wouldn’t do that but he needs to let Harry know that he better keeps his hands off Amanda.

He positions himself on his managers right and glances at Harry to see an annoyed look on his face and Liam silently congratulates himself for being the reason for that.

Meanwhile Tom greets Amanda like an old friend.

“Amanda, nice to see you!” Robbinson says into the hug.

“You too, Tom. It’s always a pleasure to meet you!”

“You two know each other?” Harry and Liam ask at the same time. They glare at each other before turning their attention back on their manager.

Amanda is blushing while Tom is nervously rubbing the back of his head.

“Uhm…yeah. We… we uh…” Smith stutters trying to find the right words.

“We worked together a few years back.” Tom answers for her instead. He tries to fake confidence but his voice still wavers. There is something these two are not telling them but Liam decides not to dwell on it because now is not the time.

Tom and Amanda share a look before Robbinson starts the conversation they were supposed to have before their record labels get here.

“So, I think we all agree that Harry and Liam want to spend the least amount of time together, if possible.”, Tom starts. Everybody nods. ”Alright, I think it’s best if you write separately on your song and then we put them together. It should probably be a love song. Your fans would love that.”

“Sounds manageable.” he hears Harry say and Liam nods, for once thinking the same thing.

“Recording goes as well separately. I talked to a producer this morning that would work with each of you, separately of course, to create the hit single of 2017.” Tom finishes and lets Amanda take over.

“After the song’s finished you two have to attend a photoshoot. Maybe we can work something out so that you don’t have to be photographed together, but we’ll see about that.”

Liam never thought that so much fuss would be needed because of him, but it is not like he wants to spend hours and days, maybe even weeks in Harry’s back pocket. They most likely wouldn’t even get along, only arguing and not getting anything done.

The idea with the separated photoshoot is only half insane. Liam know it has been done before, mostly with groups too big to have everyone looking good in the same picture, but it still sounds crazy. But since Liam is no actor he cannot make it look like he likes Harry in a simple photoshoot, so it is probably for the best.

“You’ll have to shoot a music video after that. And of course there will be a promo tour and that’s where our management magic ends. You guys have to do interviews together and you have to perform together on various events. And it would be great if you wouldn’t ignore each other for either of that. I’ve seen you guys pull out these acting skills before and I need you to do that again, but you’ll have time to prepare.

I think it’s better to keep this all between the four of us. It is not really professional to avoid your duet partner, so no words to anyone about this! Got it?”

Liam and Harry just finished nodding to show their understanding when the door opens for the heads of their Record Labels to enter the room and the official meeting starts.

\---

The official meeting is just Tom and Amanda informing the labels about their plans (without mentioning the fact that Harry and Liam won’t be together for most of them), the PR people have made a very boring presentation that among other things shows the goals for the single and how they are gonna promote it. There is talk about financing and other things Liam isn’t really interested in. He is only here because he gets to sing and make people happy.

So he lets his gaze wander through the room, from the stern faces of the bosses of all bosses to the employees doing their best to please them before it rests on Harry. He’s grown up since the day seven years ago when they first met. His brown curly hair is shorter and doesn’t curl like it used to. His shoulders are covered by a wide, colourful floral shirt which buttons start to close very far down so Liam has a good look at the two tattooed birds beneath his collarbone that aren’t the only tattoos that Harry has, as far as Liam can tell.

He looks up to Harry’s face to see Harry lick his lips. Liam realises that Harry is looking at him and smirks. He looks in these admittedly beautiful green eyes that look so focused on – apparently – Liam’s lips. Then Harry looks him in the eyes and immediately turns bright red and looks away. The flowers on the table seem to be Harry’s new object of interest. But that’s fine by Liam.

\---

The press conference is less painful than expected. He just needs to sit next to Harry and answer some easy questions like “Do you already know what the song will be about?”. But the reporters are also a bit confused to see two guys collaborate that usually don’t hang out in public and are not snapped by paparazzi together. He keeps the answers to such questions short and says, that “Just because cameras haven’t seen something it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there”. Which is true, just that the truth is no hidden friendship but a hidden enmity.

Liam’s gonna have his first session with the producer in two days. Until then he wants to at least have written some lines. Harry’s session is tomorrow so Liam has to kind of adjust to what Harry is starting on but Liam’s always been good at that.

**LONDON CELEB NEWS**

**Pop Stars Liam Payne and Harry Styles to work together on new hit duet.**

**The two former X-Factor contestants are set to release a single within the next few months. Although rumours say that the two gold voices of ‘Sunbooth records’ and ‘Stardust records’ are in a feud, they did not mention that as an influence on their upcoming single. When asked about their absence in the public eye as friends, Payne is quick to answer that “Just because cameras haven’t seen something it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there.”. Clever choice of words, hope to hear just as good lyrics on the new duet.**

\---

A few sessions have passed and Liam is about to snap. He thought that working like this was going to be way easier. When he is satisfied with a part of a song, Harry has a different idea and changes it and the text doesn’t match and the music just sucks. It’s a terrible song they’re working on. With what they have they won’t get anywhere.

Liam looks at the clock to see what time it is – it’s 4:27 in the afternoon – when his phone rings. It’s an unknown number calling and he’s not sure if he should answer, but does anyway.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“Hey Liam. It’s me, Harry.”

Harry. Is this a prank or something?

“Is this a joke or what? What do you want, Styles?”

“Dogs who bark don’t bite. Haven’t you noticed that our song is rubbish? I knew writing like this wouldn’t be easy, but this is shit, mate.”

“Don’t call me mate. What are you on about? Or is this just about criticising our compatibility over the phone?” How did he even get his number?

“I think we should try to work on the song together, like properly. Do you think you can manage to not be a Payne in the arse for a few hours?” What. A. Dick.

“If you can manage not to lull me asleep with your boring stories.” Liam rummages through the papers in front of him and looks over their song again. “But fine, there’s a slight chance that we can work out something better than the song we got right now. You can come over in a few, I got a little studio in my basement.”

Wait. What? Why did he offer that? Is he going insane? First Curly got his mobile number and now he’s inviting him over in the privacy of his home?

“Do you mean right now?”

“Mhm, yeah. Works for me. I am actually working on the song right now, so you wouldn’t interrupt anything…” What is he doing? He should back track, not encourage Harry to come over.

“Okay. Text me your address, yeah? I’m just gonna take a quick shower and then I’ll be over.”

“See you then.”

Well, now he must rapidly clean his house. He wasn’t expecting anybody and he doesn’t want Harry to think that he’s a messy person. Which he is, obviously.

\---

He isn’t half ready with the house when he hears the doorbell ring for all of three seconds. He quickly rearranges the couch pillows and makes his way to the door. He opens it to reveal an uneasy Harry.

“Hi.” Liam greets with a small wave. Christ, why did he do that?

“Hey.” Harry returns and lets his gaze drag over Liam. “Dressed up for me, eh?”

The brown eyed lad looks down at his crumpled white shirt, old baggy joggers and socks with a hole where the big toe pokes out.

“Shut it and come in. Don’t want someone to see you entering my house.” He says as he gets out of the way so Harry can do as told for once.

When the door is closed, Harry holds up a bottle of red wine and proudly announces:

“I brought a guest present!”

Surprised by this nice act Liam takes the bottle tentatively.

“You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“I wanted to. And I think we could use the alcohol to get this over with.”

Realising they are still in his hallway he leads Harry into his living room.

“This is huge!”

Liam scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, I … oh look. That’s my dog Watson.”

He points to a big black dog that runs over to them and stops in front of Harry. The great dane seems to like him.

“Hi, Watson.” Harry says and pets his head. “Are you a good boy? Yes you are, yes you are!” Harry coos with a higher pitched voice. Of course Harry would be one of those people who alter their voice when talking to an animal and presumably newborn.

Watson, the traitor, seems to enjoy it if his waggling tail is anything to go by.

“I’ll go get us some glasses for this then.” Liam says and makes his way over to the kitchen.

When he gets back with the glasses in hand and the bottle under one arm Harry has Watson on his back begging the curly haired lad to pet his stomach to which Harry happily complies.

“To the studio it’s this way.” Liam mentions to catch his writing partner’s attention and nods towards the basement door. Harry gets up from where he had been kneeling on the floor, takes one look at Liam and opens the basement door for him to go through first. _That’s a nice gesture!_ Liam thinks to himself but then remembers that his hands are packed and that he wouldn’t have been able to open the door himself. That means that Harry at least is able to think logically.

\---

When they enter the studio, Harry pouts “You told me you had a _little_ studio down here. This is huge.”

Liam can’t help but laugh.

“Well, it’s better that way, isn’t it? Better than when you expect too much and are disappointed.”

He places the glasses on the coffee table in front of the big brown leather couch and fills them. He hands one to Harry and with a “Cheers!” takes a sip of his own. The wine is really good. It makes him wonder if Harry drinks wine on the regular.

“Make yourself comfortable. If you need anything, feel free to tell me.”

“Thanks.” Harry sits down on the couch and drinks out of his glass before placing it back on the table.

After a long silence, Liam sits down next to Harry and they start to discuss what they want to change about the song. They end up deciding that they better start a new song.

Liam is lost in his thoughts when he realises Harry is talking to him.

“What is it you’re humming? It sounds good!”

He first doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“Mhm? Humming? Oh, I don’t know. I have had this melody on my mind for a while now.”

“So it’s your creation?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Could we use it for our song? “

“Really?” Liam isn’t sure if he’s just joking.

“Yes, Liam!” Harry responds with an eye roll.

Liam still isn’t sure whether Harry genuinely likes the melody or if he just wants to use the first one either of them can think of to get one step closer to finishing the song and with that being away from Liam again. At least for a little while. But Liam is fine with either option so he moves over to the piano placed at the other end of the room.

He sits down and plays the melody on the keys. He closes his eyes and gets lost in the sound. Liam startles a little when he hears Harry humming next to him. Soon the humming forms into words and just like that the uneasiness between them subsides.

-

They really get invested in the writing then. Liam recorded what they already had as melody and put it on loop.

In no time, the first and second verse are written and ideas about the bridge are exchanged. They even wrote down large part of the chorus and what instrumental changes they want for the chorus and bridge.

“Hey Harry. How do you feel about changing this line in the chorus?” He points to that specific line. “Harry?”

He turns around to see Harry sleeping on the couch next to him. How long has he been asleep? Liam decides not to wake him hence sleeping monsters are not to wake. He grabs a blanket from the armchair in the corner and throws it over Harry.

It’s just when he sees Harry lying there so peaceful that he realises how tired he is himself. He switches the lights off and goes upstairs to find Watson already sleeping on his bed. Liam changes into his pyjamas and climbs under the blanket. He is asleep within moments.

\---

**LONDON CELEB NEWS**

**Celebrities Payne and Styles meet up for nice dinner and more.**

**Yesterday paparazzi, who hid outside Liam Payne’s private property, spotted singer Harry Styles visiting his duet partner with an expensive bottle of red wine. Even though Payne wasn’t as dressed up as we usually see him, the night must have gone well because sources say the curly haired singer didn’t leave to sleep in his own bed.**

**The two haven’t been seen together privately until yesterday and now we are asking ourselves if the collaboration lead to a new celebrity romance.**

\---

Liam wakes early the next morning and goes about his everyday morning routine. He puts on a white sweater and some grey sweatpants before he walks down to the kitchen. He feeds Watson and opens the fridge and cupboards to find only a pack of rice. He definitely needs to go shopping.

He grabs his keys and walks towards the front door to see that the door to the basement is open. Then he remembers that Harry stayed here the night. He goes downstairs to check on him and finds Harry still sleeping. He decides to let him sleep and that he would do no harm to his house or dog if he would leave him alone here for a bit. He picks up a piece of paper and a pencil to write Harry a note.

_Didn’t want to wake you. Figured you could use some sleep. If I’m not there when you wake up, I’m still buying groceries to make breakfast. Watson will keep you company._ _J_

He probably shouldn’t have put the smiley face there. Just because they had a pleasant time yesterday doesn’t mean that they are friends now. But he can’t undrawn that emoji so he goes with it.

He places the piece of paper on the table where Harry must see it when he wakes up.

Wasting no more time, Liam runs upstairs and makes his way to the super market.

\---

As soon as he gets home he can hear Harry wishing him a “Good morning.”.

He answers with a “Morning.” And adds “Found my note?”.

Liam makes his way over to the kitchen to set down the groceries. But he still can hear Harry’s answer.

“Yes. Look, I didn’t plan to stay over night. I just fell asleep. I didn’t want to prepare you circumstances.”

“No worries!” It wasn’t like Liam even noticed he was there anyway. “I’m gonna get started on breakfast. Tea?”

“Yes, please.”

\---

Over eggs with beans on toast, one of the meals Liam can cook without it tasting weird, they make small talk.

“So why didn’t you just leave this morning when you woke up?” Liam asks Harry, who gives him a questioning look.

“I do have manners, you know. I wouldn’t leave and let the door unlocked. Plus, you left a note saying you would make breakfast and I was starving.” To emphasise his point, he bites off a big piece of bread. “Why did you even offer to make breakfast? “

“I have manners too, you know. I can’t just let you sleep on the old couch in the basement and then kick you out. Plus, if you’re not busy today, we could use the time to work on the song.”

Harry seems to think this over while he picks up a bit of egg with his fork.

“I do have a meeting with my physio later today, but until then we can do that.”

Liam nods and they finish their breakfast in silence.

\---

They finish the lyrics and work on the notes but aren’t as productive as yesterday.

The uneasiness is back, but not as bad as it was before yesterday. Maybe it’s the loss of alcohol that loosened them up a bit.

When Harry’s phone rings with a reminder that he should get going now, Liam is relieved. At least this puts an end to the awkwardness, at least for today.

They are standing in Liam’s hallway, neither of them knowing what to do now. Eventually Harry opens the front door and looks back at him.

“I’ll call Rob and talk to him about studio time and that we have a new song.” Liam says.

“Alright. I’ll get going then.” With a little wave Harry exits the house and closes the door behind himself.

Now Liam is standing in the hallway alone, staring at the blank front door. Mechanically he takes his phone and calls the producer.

\---

They have a session with Rob on Monday, where they get stuff done on a professional level.

Rob likes what they’ve been working on and within a few hours he has a raw cut of the instrumental version worked out. He has some credits as a songwriter on hits, so he helps them polish the lyrics.

Liam can’t believe how easy it was to get the song done. Harry and he made it so difficult to work together at first, but after they got over their problems with each other, they were a good team. He never thought he would think that.

They are still not done, haven’t done any recording yet, but when Rob adds the finishing touches, Liam is sure that the song will be a banger.

After Liam and Harry both call their managers to tell them the news, they quickly arrange a meeting with their labels for Thursday. Apparently this collab is such a big deal, that the heads of their labels must approve of the song first, before it can be released. And while they are at it, they have to do a round of interviews tomorrow.

Liam can so not wait for Thursday.

\---

The song must be ready to be presented on Thursday, a demo apparently won’t do, so Liam and Harry find themselves in the studio with Rob both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tuesday is mostly spent in the recording booth. It’s nice to actually sing the song for once instead of worrying about the whole process. Later on, they’ll have a couple of interviews lined up in the studio.

Since they don’t know yet who’s voice fits better where, they decide that both boys should record the full song and that they decide afterwards.

Harry is first in the recording booth and it’s the first time that Liam really listens to his voice. Before, he either didn’t want to hear a thing from Harry or he was too focused on the words he was singing and what vocal range sounded best.

Now though, now Liam hears the clear tone of Harry’s voice through his headphones and is kind of impressed.

Harry’s voice is raspy, but still clear. The high notes sound really good. Liam kind of wants to listen to that voice forever.

He is rapidly thrown out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder.

“Your turn.”

Liam looks from the hand on his shoulder to the owner of it, Harry. Said bloke smiles a small smile down at Liam which disappears as Liam blinks and looks at the hand still on his shoulder.

“Sorry.” Harry says with a strain in his voice as he drops his hand. He also moves completely out of Liam’s reach. Liam thinks about apologising for whatever he did that so obviously upset Harry but throws away the thought as soon as he catches Harry’s icy glance in his direction.

The brown eyed lad decides to avoid further confrontation and records the song. Just when he started to think him and Curly were finally starting to get along, he seems to annoy Harry with his sheer silence.

When he gets out of the booth Harry is sulking, but he doesn’t look as cross with Liam as he did before.

They listen to the recordings and finally decide who sings what. They record some of it again, to find the best track, but leave the backing vocals and harmonies to the next day of recording.

While Harry and Liam will be doing interviews, Rob will record some instruments with other professionals.

\---

They booked another recording room for the interviews. Set up there is a small set of chairs with the sound board and the recording booth in the background. Cameras are pointed at them and the interviewer, but they are used to that.

The singers are going to get interviewed by several journalists, radio hosts and YouTubers one after the other. It’s not long until the first interviewers with their crew arrive.

The interviews go as smoothly as they can, the only worrying thing is that Harry leaves the room as soon as each interview is over. But not before shaking the interviewer’s hands and wishing them a save drive home.

The tension from earlier that day is still there, but Liam isn’t sure if it is the tension from this morning or if this is how they used to be around each other.

Harry’s been charming the interviewers pants off all afternoon and it’s slowly driving Liam mad. How can Harry act so charming around these strangers but not talk to Liam at all since whatever happened this morning? Someone is really unforgiving and Liam doesn’t even know what he did wrong.

The questions are a variety of song related ones and private ones. As expected most of them are “How is the song writing process going?”, “Can you describe the chemistry between you two?”, “Who came up with the idea of the duet?” but they are also asked questions that Liam never even thought of being asked like “Is it true that you are in a secret relationship together?”. That one Liam definitely saw not coming. Harry also appears to be taken aback by it.

He coughs and shakes his head. The curls flying around. “I’m sorry, where did you get this from?”

“There have been pictures of you hanging out at Liam’s place for what seems like a romantic dinner.” The blonde answers, not aware of the charged air.

“We never … “ ‘– hung out in private!’ _Is not what you should answer, Payne_. ‘It’s not what it looks like.’ Also isn’t the right thing to say.

“And isn’t it true that Harry is your type, Liam?”

Completely surprised by that question Liam stutters out a simple “What?”

A glance at Harry reveals that he is frozen in his seat.

“Your previous partners always had dark, mostly curly, hair, were tall and athletic.”

“But they were girls!” Liam is absolutely not proud of how high is voice is right now.

“You never came out as strictly straight. Sources saw you close with guys before.”

How she did her research is impressive. Liam faintly remembers flirting with guys at clubs when he was pissed. He may have been spotted once or twice leaning in a little too close for a straight guy, but Liam never thought much of it. He knows he can’t hide the blush that’s staining his face.

“Could we please not talk about Liam’s preferences, even though I bet they were all lovely, and get back to talking about the song? I bet you want to know if it’s slow or more upbeat.”

Liam let out a breath of relief. Proper thanks to Harry for saving the situation and getting them back on track.

Luckily the day of interviews is soon over and Liam can go home.

**LONDON CELEB NEWS**

**Liam Payne and Harry Styles secretly a couple?**

**Today the two popstars had a round of interviews and of course we had our very own reporter there. She got to ask the boys a couple questions on the single and the recording process (the whole interview can be read on Wednesday on our website) and romance. When asked if they were secretly together they didn’t even deny it. Maybe our prayers have been heard and we have a new cute celebrity couple. I bet there are already tons of fanfictions being written out there.**

\---

On Wednesday, the air is surprisingly light between them.

Harry is all cheery and they get along way better than yesterday. In no time his and Harry’s work on the song is done and it’s left to Rob to finish the song like they planned it together.

“Our voices have a nice contrast.” Liam says to his duet partner. “Your voice is like the pepper and salt to our dish.”

Harry lays his hand on his heart and responds “Liam, are you hitting on me?” while batting his eyelashes.

The brown eyed lad blushes and stutters out a “I ... sorry … I didn’t…” before he sees the twinkle in Harry’s eyes and realises that Harry and Rob are both holding back laughter. That’s when he realises it.

“You were mocking me?!”

Rob and Harry burst out laughing. “More like teasing!”

Liam crosses his arms and pouts.

Harry’s laughter dies down. “Oh, come on Leeyum. That isn’t fair!”

Liam is trying not to laugh because this is friendly banter he didn’t ever think he’d have with Harry.

“I already know I am your type…” The green-eyed singer says cheekily.

Liam can’t hold the laugh back and slaps Harry, who is now grinning widely, on the arm playfully. “You cheeky bean.”

“Bean? Really?” Harry is full on laughing now again.

\---

At almost 8 o’clock at night the final version of their song ‘Tear my world apart’ is saved. Rob did an amazing job and made their vison of the song reality.

It’s been a long day and Liam just wants to get home and relax.

It’s already getting dark so he walks a little faster to his car. He may be a well build guy who can hopefully defend himself from an attacker but it still is creepy to walk in the almost dark in an almost empty parking lot. A scene like that is in almost every horror movie.

From behind him he can hear footsteps coming closer. Fast. Like someone’s jogging. In boots? These are definitely heels clapping on the concrete. Please let it be a fan. Just a fan. Not a murderer. Christ, he should have taken Paddy to the studio with him. His bodyguard surely would keep him safe from this mysterious person.

“Hey! Liam, wait up!” He knows that voice. Relief washes over him while he turns around and sees Harry’s short locks moving while he jogs up to him.

“Hey, What’s up? Did I leave something at the studio?” Instinctually, he pats his pockets for his phone and keys. All there.

“No, sorry, didn’t want to alarm you.” Harry has a shy smile on his face, again. This Harry he’s come to know is nothing like the cocky Harry Styles he’s known for seven years. But it’s not like he had talked to him in private all those years. At least not without an argument.

“What is it then?” Liam tilts his head to the side questioningly. “I thought you were a criminal or something like that with those heavy footsteps of yours.”

“Are you calling me fat?” Harry locks offended but manages to look apologising as well. Liam knows he’s just joking. This banter between them is new, but Liam got used to it pretty quickly. He rather enjoys it, too.

“Never would dream of it, Styles. Although I must say I remember you a bit fitter.” Liam wanted to keep the joke going but from the smirk on Harry’s face he knew he walked right into that one.

“Oh really? Got any shirtless posters of me up on your bedroom walls?”

The flirting on the other hand is completely new. So of course Liam blushes. It’s just that Harry interprets the blushing differently and that causes Liam to turn even redder.

“So the interviewer was right. I am your type!” Harry looks absolutely delighted. “Who would have thought?”

The thing is, there’s no lie in there. Liam first didn’t realise it, but after the interviewer pointed it out, Liam could see it. Sure, Harry’s hair is short and not long, but it went past his shoulders a year ago, before he cut it for charity. Liam did not find this out after a late night stalker run on the internet. He also didn’t find out that Harry’s sexuality is as fluid as it can be, which doesn’t help the situation at all.

The thing is that Harry is in fact very tall. Taller than Liam even, if only slightly. He isn’t all muscles but Liam’s seen pap shoots of him running and read rumours about Harry doing yoga and Pilates. All kinds of cardio and flexibility. He also read that Harry can get his feet behind his head which means that … okay, stopping there.

“All those years you were calling me a slut just because you had a crush on me!” His duet partner sounds like he just found out the secret of life. But wait a minute …

“What do you mean? I’ve never talked bad about you. If someone was talking shit, then it was you. Everywhere I turned, I could read something assaulting you said of me!”

Harry huffs a breath, like he is laughing.

“Sure thing. You are such a bad liar. And then you even have the nerve to accuse me.”

Liam is getting very angry now. Who does Harry think he is?

“Maybe I should have called you a slut. Since you do sleep with everything that breathes.”

Harry’s face gets hard and he crosses his arms over his chest. But Liam doesn’t want to stop now. Now is the time to get everything off his chest that he held in for the last few years.

“You may be on the top of the charts with me, but you only accomplished that because you slept your way to the top.”

Harry looks outright angry now. He pushes at Liam’s shoulders so that he stumbles back. “Take that back!”

“I won’t. Because it is true. You may think you can get everything just by fucking the right people, but in reality, you are just a moody bastard who doesn’t have an ounce of talent.”

Harry growls as he pushes Liam so far that his back is against his car. The younger one crowds against him.

“You are such an idiot! Here I thought we were on the right track of becoming friends but you can only diss people. You think that you’re a saint, but you are not in the slightest.”

“I never said I were, but I’m definitely more of a saint than you. You’re such a slut, you’d fuck anyone just to get your way!”

Suddenly Harry’s mouth is on his and surprising himself, Liam kisses back with just as much force. The kiss isn’t anything like a first kiss should be. It’s careless and without loving. A heated conversation on another level.

Their tongues fight for the upper hand and while Liam wins momentarily, Harry gets a hand under his shirt. Liam has his hands in Harry’s short locks and tucks on them roughly. It earns him a moan and then Harry’s big hands are on his ass and pull him flush against him. Their hips collide and Liam notices that Harry is getting hard, just like he is.

The friction feels good but isn’t enough so Liam ruts against Harry helplessly.

Harry stops their feverish kiss for a moment to pant in his ear. After he’s got enough breath again, he asks “Your keys? Where are your keys?”

It takes Liam a moment to realise that Harry is searching his back pockets for Liam’s car keys.

“Got them!” Harry says cheerfully. He opens the car and looks at Liam questioningly.

“The back seat. There’s more room.”

Liam opens the back door, climbs in and somehow manages to pull the backrest down.

He lays down on his back and Harry climbs over him. Liam hears the door close and the keys being thrown to the front. He should worry about not being able to find them later, but Harry is now on him and mouthing at his neck and Liam can’t form thoughts anymore.

Liam spreads his legs so that Harry can slide in the space between them.

He tilts his head to the left to catch Harry’s mouth in a rough kiss. His hands find their way under Harry’s shirt and slide over his strong back up to his shoulders to get a hold on something as Harry sucks on his tongue.

Harry moves his hands from where they were gripping Liam’s jaw to unbutton Liam’s shirt. He mouths at every piece of skin he just freed from material until he popped open the last button and drags Liam in a sitting position to slide his button down over his shoulders.

Harry himself shoves his shirt over his head and begins opening his trousers. His duet partner does the same and soon they are only left in their boxers. Harry is wearing the tiniest pair of briefs Liam’s ever seen with his dick poking out at the top.

He can’t complete the thought about how much he wants to lick the tip because Harry is pushing him back on the seat, making himself at home between Liam’s legs.

They are kissing again and Liam ruts against Harry helplessly because he doesn’t get enough friction on his dick when Harry pulls back and searches his trousers for god knows what because right now is definitely not the time to send a text or stuff like that.

“Aha!” he cheers. Harry holds condoms and a package of lube in his left hand and places them next to Liam on the seat before laying down of top of Liam again.

Liam chuckles. “Always prepared, aren’t you? You’re such a slut.”

“Shut up!” Harry growls and bites down hard on Liam’s collar bone, but Liam doesn’t miss the way Harry’s dick twitched.

Liam’s groan of pain quickly turns into a moan of pleasure when Harry starts to suck a love bite right where he bit.

“You liked that, didn’t you? Being called a slut. That’s how we ended up here in the first place, right?” Liam questions.

“Shut. Up.” Harry growls. But his voice is raspier and deeper than a second ago.

His thumb now rests under the waistband of Liam’s pants. As if nerves finally flame up he hesitates and locks eyes with Liam.

Green eyes filled with want stare into his brown ones and Liam can only nod once before his pants are flying to the front.

He doesn’t have time to wince as the cold hits his dick because Harry wastes no time in getting his hands on him. He strokes him light a few times just to tease him before he takes him in his mouth.

Surprised by the sudden heat and wetness Liam thrusts up but Harry holds him down by the hips. He relocates his left arm underneath Liam’s bellybutton to hold him down and uses his right hand to stroke what of Liam’s dick he couldn’t fit in his mouth.

Liam is a writhing mess beneath Harry. The wet heat and the press of Harry’s tongue swirling around his dick is making Liam’s head dizzy. He feels like he’s been on the edge since they started, but the slow tempo isn’t quite enough to get him off.

Liam doesn’t want to beg, but he doesn’t see another way out.

“Harry, please!” He pulls off with a wet plop.

“Please what?”

“Please fuck me.”

He sees Harry gulp and smirks.

“Yeah. Yes. Fuck Liam.”

Harry spreads Liam’s legs and searches the lube he set out earlier.

He rips the package open with his long fingers and fuck, those will be in Liam soon. The brown eyed lad can’t suppress the moan at the thought.

Harry looks up at him and presses a lubed finger to his rim. Liam winces at the cold. Harry proceeds the circular motion of his middle finger until Liam’s rim is wet and looser, then he pushes in slowly. He is dragging the finger in and out until his finger is in until the last knuckle. His finger is curving a little until he finds Liam’s prostate. On the next thrusts, he tries to hit it every time. Not long after, he is adding a second and a third to “Spread you open for my big cock.”.

When Liam thinks he can’t take it anymore, he drags Harry in with his feet at Harry’s back. He gets the message and pulls his fingers out.

“Yeah, alright. Let me just find the condom.”

A few moments later Harry is putting on the condom and lubing his member up.

With one hand, he guides his dick to Liam’s entrance and pushes in slowly. He doesn’t stop until his hips are flush against Liam’s.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” Harry breathes out.

“Can you move? Harry, please!” Liam begs.

“Just a second. You’re so hot. Around me. Like you’re gonna make me come too soon.”

“Move, Styles!”

Slowly, ever so slowly, Harry pulls his dick out, until only the head is still inside, and pushes back in. He sets a slow rhythm until Liam moves down to meet him and drags him in deeper with his feet.

The green-eyed singer then keeps going faster and harder and Liam feels like he’s going to burst. He gets a hand on his cock and pumps a few times before he is coming and clenching around Harry.

Harry fucks him through it, then hides his face in Liam’s neck, kissing and breathing into the skin there, while he fucks Liam with long thrusts and comes with a muffled groan.

After his breathing has evened, Harry pulls of the condom, only to not know where to put it. So he opens the window and throws it out.

Just then Liam remembers that they are in his car on a public parking spot and anyone could have seen them fucking.

In mild panic Liam sits up and looks out the windows. To his luck, the parking spot is completely empty except for his own car.

“Calm down, no one saw us.”

“How would you know that?”

“If one did, they would have taken a picture and since it’s dark out, they would have used the flash and we didn’t see a flash go off, did we?” Liam shakes his head. “And how would they even know it was us? It’s way too dark to see details.”

“You are probably right.” Liam admits. Feeling awkward he climbs to the front to search his underwear.

A few minutes pass in silence until they are both fully dressed again. Liam doesn’t know what to do with the fact, that they just slept together. He slept with a co-worker and what’s even worse, with a person he doesn’t really like.

“Listen, …” He starts, but Harry beats him to it.

“No worries. This was just a casual fuck. I don’t want to date you. No pressure.”

Liam huffs out a laugh. “Good.”

Harry opens the door and steps out. He ducks his head back in and tells Liam, he’ll see him tomorrow. The door clothes with a loud click.

Liam gets behind the wheel and starts the car. He can have a crisis about what just happened when he is home and can cry in Watsons fur.

\---

The next day their labels come to the studio where Rob plays them the song.

“It’s quite good. You like the song, boys?” Mister Clark, the head of ‘Sunbooth Records’ asks.

“Yes, Sir. We had another song going, but this song kinda flowed out of fingers.” Liam replies.

“Good work, boys. If this is the song you choose, then we’ll be happy to release it.” Says Mister Bellock.

And with that said, they had a song. Now all they needed was a single cover. And a music video. And more interviews. And promo. And performances.

Oh boy, when will this mess end?

\---

Liam thought that after having slept with Harry, things between them would be even weirder. But they are not. They are better. They kind of get along better like they fucked the hatred out of their system, but not completely. Liam still wouldn’t describe them as friends, but they definitely talk now, even if it’s just sexual innuendos from Harry’s side that make Liam blush. Their banter continues, which Liam is thankful for since he has taken a liking on it.

He still doesn’t really like Harry, Liam still has the other Harry on his mind. The one that is mean to Liam and who sleeps with anyone. That one is still present, hiding behind that dimpled smile. It’s just that he hasn’t heard Harry brag about his last shag (except the time he fucked Liam on his backseat, he can’t seem to shut up about it when they are alone), but that kind of shows that he still is the same. Then there is also the Harry that tells these long stories where he gets lost along the way and ends up telling Liam something different. Harry is full of contradictions.

A fact that won’t let Liam rest is that Harry hasn’t tried to sleep with him again, even though Liam thought that their sex was great and Harry said it was a casual fuck so does this mean it will happen again or that it was just a once off? Then Liam will be just a number in one of the many people that was fucked by Harry Styles and been left and forgotten. Not that Liam would want more from Harry than that last fuck. He still doesn’t know how he let that happen.

\---

Today is the day of the photoshoot. Liam’s alarm went off at arse o’clock in the morning. So early, that the birds didn’t even start singing yet. Which means that Liam is cranky.

He showers and drinks a cup of tea, but his mood doesn’t lift.

Watson eyes him warily but cheers up, when he gets fed.

When his driver comes to pick him up, Liam takes the chance and sleeps a bit. He’s waking up when the car parks next to an old warehouse.

Inside it’s like bees are buzzing around. There are so many people and Liam barely recognizes half of them. He still greets everyone that’s on his way to the hair and make-up room.

In there is a woman with grey hair that introduces herself as Lou who has already started getting Harry ready. He looks about as awake as Liam feels.

“Hey there.” Harry greets him. “You look fresh as a lily!”

Liam snorts. “Could say the same thing about you.” He takes a seat on the vacated stool next to Harry. “Did you sleep well?”

“Oh, I had a fantastic sleep. Had a good ol’ wank since I have no one I could share the bed with.” And then Harry bloody winks at Liam. “Slept like a baby after that.”

Liam is getting red and looks anywhere but Harry. Lou just rolls her eyes at Harry’s antics, which means she must know him a while now.

“Turn your face to me, love. I’ll put some make up on.”

Liam is thankful for Lou, now he doesn’t have to talk to Harry anymore. In the mirror, he can see Harry changing onto the clothes Lou laid out for him. He goes about it slowly, like he’s putting on a show, which just makes Liam’s mouth dry. He even looks him in the eyes when he takes his trousers off. Liam rapidly looks away then.

\---

“Now look at the camera! Camera, boys!” The photographer tells them.

Liam and Harry are stood next to each other, their body’s facing while they are supposed to look at the camera. But every now and then Harry leans in and whispers naughty thing in Liam’s ear.

“That shirt is showing of your muscles really well, Liam. This six-pack of yours looks very nice. Remember how you coated your stomach when I fucked you? Because I do. So fucking desperate …”

That’s enough. He can’t work like that. He turns his head to tell Harry to shut up, but Harry is so close, that their noses are almost touching and Liam stops breathing automatically.

Shocked green eyes stare into brown ones for a second or so before they drop to Liam’s lips. Harry is breathing harder than a minute ago and is licking his lips which makes Liam lower his gaze, too.

He’s about to lean in when the photographer let’s out an exasperated sigh. “Could you just concentrate, boys? We want to get some work done.”

It startles both singers so much that they tumble away from each other. The rest of the day, Harry makes only little references or innuendos. He just keeps giving Liam these glances that Liam can only describe as ‘considering’.

\---

At the end of the day, Liam is a bit surprised that they did get some good shots of the two of them. He has only seen a few but it was obvious that he and Harry look good together on photos. Their management team had a meeting the other day and decided that it won’t be necessary to photograph them separately since they get along much better now. And in the end, their dynamic can be captured good in a picture.

He is on his way to leave when Harry runs up to him.

“Hey, Liam. Wait up.”

It is like a déjà vu for Liam and he almost expects his duet partner to drag him into the closest room. It makes a shiver run down Liam’s back.

“I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink with me?” The cocky attitude he had on since they slept together seems to have disappeared. Harry even seems a bit nervous.

“Sure.” Why did he say yes? “Where do you want to go?”

Half an hour later Liam finds himself in a hole in the wall dance bar that Harry highly recommended. Says that not many of their fans age went there and that they wouldn’t get recognised that easily.

The place isn’t very crowded since it’s still early in the night.

They settle down at the bar and while Liam orders a beer, Harry orders a cocktail. They sit in awkward silence for a while, both sipping at their drinks.

“So, why did you start singing professionally?” Harry asks.

Startled by the question, Liam takes a moment to resettle.

“I’ve always loved music. Since I was a little kid I sang whenever possible. There was nothing I wanted to do more. The possibility to do that for a living was too taunting. I had to follow that dream. I was gutted when I didn’t win X-Factor the first time around. I was signed up to study sound engineering when I got to judges houses the second time around. Luckily it worked out back then.”

“Can I tell you something? We were all very intimidated by you.” Liam shoots him a questioning look. “I saw you on TV 2008 and you had so much talent even at that young age. So, when you showed up two years later, I knew you would be killing it. You should have won that year.”

Liam doesn’t know if Harry is taking the piss or being honest with him.

“Your ability with vocal arrangements still stuns me every time.” Harry’s cheeks get a bit pink, ducking his head a bit.

Taking a large sip of his cold beer, Liam realises that Harry Styles just gave him an honest compliment. He flushes bright red. Belatedly he mumbles a “Thanks.”

“So…” Harry starts again. Liam turns to look at him. “You want to dance?”

He looks out on the now more crowded dancefloor and nods to Harry. Emptying their drinks, they make their way through the group of dancing bodies.

The music isn’t what Liam normally listens to, but it has a beat that he can shake his hips to. He didn’t drink much, but he feels the easiness the alcohol left behind. Liam is moving freely, eyes closed and feeling the music.

He startles a bit when a body crowds into him. Liam relaxes a bit when he sees it’s just Harry but that fact also makes him tense up again. Except for that moment back at the photo shoot, Harry hasn’t made a move on him since that night in the parking lot. And now Harry had a drink and Liam doesn’t like the thought of Harry needing alcohol to lay Liam again.

He is about to push him away when he notices the girl that’s pressed to Harry’s back. She’s got her hands roaming Harry’s body. Said boy pushes her hands off him before getting even closer to Liam. They are now pressed together. The girl doesn’t notice when Harry practically flinches when her hands touch him again.

He turns around quickly to shoo her away. She first seems happy to have his full attention until he says “I’m terribly sorry, but I’m not interested.”. He has his hand on Liam’s hip and leans his head against Liam’s. The girl’s eyes widen and she apologises quickly.

Harry nods at her, then he takes Liam’s hand and leads him back to the bar. Without a look at Liam he orders them both a shot.

He wants to ask _“What was that back there?”_ , but goes for the safer option.

“Does that happen often?”

Harry shoves a shot over to him, clinks their glasses and downs his shot. Liam follows after a moment of hesitation.

After what feels like an eternity Harry answers.

“Sometimes.” He twirls the empty glass in his hand. “I mostly turn them down. Sleeping around as a popstar isn’t the best option.”

That takes Liam aback. Is Harry lying to him? He knows Harry, saw him in action, heard a lot about him and experienced it first-hand that Harry is a flirt and likes to get handsy.

“You don’t believe me.” Harry notes. “Unbelievable. What do you think? That I’m a slag?” Liam doesn’t know what to say because that is exactly what he thinks of Harry.

Harry huffs out a breath that sounds like a breathless laugh. “You really do think that, don’t you?” Liam can see that Harry is trying to stay calm.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Liam fires back. “You always flirt with everyone. You gave me no reason to believe otherwise. You proved me right by sleeping with me.” That is the first time Liam mentions that night. Until now it was only Harry who talked about it.

“Liam, flirting is fun. Nothing serious. You should know that tabloids always twist the truth to make up a story. I learned my lesson early on. Since then I have a calling and I haven’t been able to get rid of it yet.”

Liam is still hesitant to believe Harry.

“Come on, Liam. You can trust me. Why should I lie to you about this?”

“I don’t know.” Harry looks really disappointed right now.

“Right. I don’t even know why I thought you’d be better than the other’s. I don’t know why I thought you wouldn’t believe the tabloids.”

“It’s just not only the tabloids, is it? I know first-hand that not everything they tell is true, but even Amanda told me from her inside knowledge about you.”

“Amanda? How long has she been in the business? Seven years?”

“And? Just as long as you and me. She also isn’t the only one who told me some stuff about you.” Harry rolls his eyes, Liam has had enough. “You know what? I’m sick of arguing with you!”

Liam turns to the bartender and orders another round of shots. When the glasses arrive, he slides one over to Harry who looks at him questioningly.

“Let’s not talk about this again. We have to be professionals and not let it affect our work.” He lifts his shot and motions for Harry to do the same. Once he does, Liam continues. “To being professionals!” And with that he tips back the shot.

Setting his empty glass back on the counter, he sees Harry motioning for another round. “To being professionals.”

\---

To Liam’s surprise he is completely drunk after just a few hours. And with the alcohol in his system, it is easier to talk to Harry. Not about anything too important. More like “Why do you always wear your shirts almost unbuttoned? Is this one sheer? I think I can see your tattoos.”

Harry just laughs and swings an arm around Liam’s shoulder. That’s a mean move because now Liam can’t see his tattoos anymore, even though Harry is so close now.

At one point, Liam tells Harry about the ceiling in his bedroom. He tells him about the little lights he has had built in his ceiling over his bed so that it looks light a starry night. He also invites Harry over to look at them.

So they call a cab to bring them to Liam’s place.

If he were sober, he never would have done that. Now, standing in the cold at the back of the bar he thinks about the last time he brought someone home from a club and how they ended up shagging in said bedroom. But he is taking Harry with him. And he can’t stand Harry. Or used to not like Harry. He is pretty funny when he is drunk. Or maybe only when Liam is drunk. The point is that he won’t sleep with Harry. Not again. He did sleep with him once. Now Liam can’t get the images of Harry of that night out of his head.

In his mind, he changes the scenery and somehow, he has a very detailed image of Harry fucking him in his bed in his bedroom with his night sky ceiling on his mind.

For once Liam is thankful for the bright flash of a paparazzi’s camera. At least his mind is clear now. He’ll be ashamed of the pictures they are taking now in the morning because he knows that he looks like shit. And it will be bad press for him. He’ll also get an angry call from Amanda tomorrow for these photos.

What he learned from this night out though, is that Harry gets handsy when he is drunk. It doesn’t help that Liam has no willpower what so ever to push him away.

And that’s how they ended up hanging onto each other as they wait for their car to arrive.

Liam liked their night out and has the urge to tell the fellow singer that. He leans in close to Harry, lips against his ear. “It was a nice night out, Styles!” Liam leans back a bit and when Harry turn his head to talk to him, Liam’s eyes are fixated on his lips.

“Just nice?” Liam’s eyes flip to Harry’s eyes as he responds.

“More than nice. It was phenomenal! You are a great company, Styles!”

“Thanks!” He smiles and leans in closer. _The paps will get a few good shots tonight._

When the cab pulls up Liam tells Harry a light hearted “Good night!” as he leans towards him and presses a light kiss on the curly one’s cheek. At least that is what Liam tells himself he aims for, since he catches the corner of Harry’s mouth.

Harry drunkenly giggles at Liam’s attempt and shoves him off towards the taxi.

“I’m coming with you, you dork.”

Somehow, Liam finds that extremely funny. Harry smiles at him when he tells him to “Shove over.”

\---

During the cab ride to Liam’s house both singers resolve into giggles when they look at each other.

Watson wakes up from his spot in the living room when Liam opens the front door. Thanks to this being a daily routine, he manages to feed his dog without a problem. When was the last time he drank that much?

Harry is waiting for him in the living room. He is looking at a photograph of Liam with his sisters when Liam enters the room.

“You all look so happy.”

“That is because we were. Are. My mom took that picture after I released my first album. It is one of my fave memories.” Harry looks a bit sad so Liam sets a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, let me show you the stars.”

A small smile tugs at the corner of Harry’s lips. Liam drags him upstairs into his bedroom and with another fit of giggles they lie back on Liam’s bed and look at the ceiling.

“This really looks like the night sky.”

“I do hope so. It did cost a fortune.” But he is smiling as he says it, because right now he doesn’t think he can take anything seriously. “I don’t think I drank that much in like ever.”

Harry snorts.

“No, seriously. I used to have only one working kidney and wasn’t supposed to drink alcohol. Then it magically healed itself and now I have two kidneys.”

“I have always had two kidneys.”

“I was wasted so soon when I drank and the others weren’t, so it was no fun.”

“The stars are beautiful.”

Liam barely bites back the _“So are you!”_ because _What the hell?_

Liam let’s his gaze wander over Harry. His skin looks pale and his tattoos stand out more than ever. Some of his locks are falling into his face and Liam has to resist the urge to tuck them back behind Harry’s ear.

Lost in thought about what is wrong with him, Liam doesn’t hear Watson entering the room and only notices him when the great dane climbs onto the bed and nearly scares the shit out of him.

“Oh, you big fluffy dog.” He hears Harry coo. Watson, bless him, has settled in between the two guys.

He doesn’t realise how tired he is until he hears snores coming from the other half of the bed.

Before drifting off to sleep, he lays a hand on Watson and pets his fur.

**LONDON CELEB NEWS**

**Payne and Styles out clubbing before leaving together.**

**Well, last night the pop sensations Styles and Payne were out in London for a bit of fun. A fan reported to have been dancing with Styles in a club, but the singer seemed to have more interest in his duet partner, Liam Payne.**

**In the early morning hours, the two were spotted leaving the club. Arm in arm they waited for their cab to arrive. While waiting, the two looked pretty cosy and seemed more than familiar with the others body as they leaned in close.**

**Styles confirmed that he was going home with his former X-Factor rival. Lucky for us, the two popstars are apparently not too keen on keeping their romance private.**

\---

When he wakes up he doesn’t open his eyes, knowing the sun must be shining brightly already and his head is hurting. Why does his head hurt? His hand is still in Watson’s fur, massaging his head, concluding from the ongoing bone underneath his fingers. Except for the fact that Watson’s fur isn’t that long and he doesn’t have curls.

Liam opens his eyes in shock when realisation hits him: he is massaging Harry’s scalp.

Harry must have come closer over night. Or did Liam close the remaining space between them? And where in hell is Watson. He was supposed to separate them.

There is a sound in the room, like a purring cat. It is coming from Harry. Liam stills the movement of his hand.

The noise subsides.

„Please, don’t stop.“ So Harry is awake then. What must he be thinking? It is not normal to massage your friends scalp, is it? Are they even friends? “It’s nice!”

Liam still doesn’t move, but stops breathing, too.

“Leyuum!” Harry opens his eyes. “You alright?”

“Yeah, it is just …“ He continues to massage Harry’s scalp. “It’s just that I didn’t know I was doing … _this_.” He nods toward Harry’s head.

“Oh!” Is that disappointment in Harry’s voice?

Harry turns his head so that Liam can’t quite reach him anymore. His hands over his face he asks. “Do you have an aspirin or something? My head is pounding.”

Still stunned from the changed atmosphere in the room, it takes Liam a moment to answer. “Yeah, I do. Wait a minute.” He stands up, stretches a bit and then goes into the bathroom to search what he was asked for.

Back in the bedroom he asks Harry whether he wants some water with the tablet or to swallow them dry.

“Dry. I don’t think I can risk moving before I don’t feel quite so nauseous.”

“Come downstairs when you are feeling a bit better. I’ll make tea.” He only gets a grunt from Harry.

\---

Watson is happily watching the garden through the big windows when Liam gets downstairs.

“You hungry, buddy?” He asks his dog which gets him a happy bark. _Why is my dog so happy? My head hurts._

But still, _animals first_ he thinks after he has fed Watson and is swallowing his aspirin with some water.

\---

He prepares a tray with the brewed tea, sugar and milk and is about to bring it upstairs to Harry when he looks over to the living room.

Harry and Watson are sprawled on the big couch.

Shaking his head softly, Liam goes to sit with them. Harry drinks his tea with a little milk while Liam drinks his with way too much sugar than Harry thinks is healthy.

Liam can’t quite get his mind on it, but the situation seems familiar. Liam takes in Harry’s bed hair and crumpled clothes and just then it dawns on Liam that Harry did really spend the night at his. And then it hits him. _Of course! Harry spend the night here once before._ How could he have forgotten. Only this time Liam will be a much better host.

“Sorry. Do you want to shower or something? I even have an extra toothbrush under the sink in the bathroom if you want to brush your teeth.”

Harry looks at him with wide eyes.

“Not that you smell _that_ bad.” _OH shit._ Liam rapidly clamps his hands over his mouth, eyes wide. “That is not what I meant!”

To his relief and frustration Harry only chuckles. “It’s totally fine. I feel a bit gross if I’m being honest. I would like to take you up on that offer.” He extracts himself from Watson and sets his empty cup on the table.

“Right, I’ll show you the bathroom.”

On the way upstairs, Harry also asks for some clean clothes, since his smell a lot like smoke and spilled rum.

Liam lead him back into the bedroom and opens the doors to his closet. “Just pick whatever feels comfortable for you. I know we don’t have the same taste in clothes but maybe you’ll find something that you like.”

Harry sticks his head inside as if to look around, then nods.

They go to the bathroom and Liam shows Harry how the shower works, gives him a variety of shower gels and shampoos to use, lays out towels in every colour of the rainbow and places a new toothbrush for Harry on the sink right next to the toothpaste.

That might be everything Harry could possibly need. Liam is a bit nervous, maybe he has overdone it. He looks at Harry and he looks a bit uncomfortable, too. This isn’t weird. It is just a mate showering in a mate’s house. This happens all the time all over the world. They just haven’t been mates for long. What were they before? Rivals? Enemies? Fuck bodies? With a One-night-stand? No. Maybe he should contemplate this another time. While not staring at Harry whose cheeks look suspiciously pink.

Shit, how long has he been staring at Harry?

He rapidly looks away and says “I’ll leave you alone then. Shout if you need anything. I’ll be downstairs.” Liam then hurries to get out, forgetting to shut the door, coming back to mutter a “Sorry” and closing it.

\---

When Harry appears 15 minutes later the air between them is charged. As if Harry being naked in Liam’s bathroom has changed something. But what would it have changed? Liam has already seen Harry naked.

Even felt him naked. _Okay, don’t go this lane down further._

Also, it is weird looking at Harry wearing Liam’s clothes.

Without the alcohol in their blood they act awkward around each other. Liam for his part thinks too much about what he could talk about with Harry than to actually talk.

Harry doesn’t stay for long after that. He says he has to talk to Tom and stuff. He literally said “stuff”.

\---

Liam spends the rest of his hangover lounging with Watson while watching the batman movies on low volume. Eventually he gets up and charges his phone before hopping in the shower. The shower Harry had been in just hours before. _Stop it!_

He towels off quickly and puts on a pair of sweats. His phone shows seven missed calls. Five from Amanda and one from each of his sisters. Out of the several texts he’s got, only one stands out.

**_What have you done?!? Call me back right now!!_ **

It was from Amanda, of course.

These days, everything he does upsets someone, so he isn’t even worried when he calls her back.

“Finally! I was about to head over to yours to whack you over the head.”

“Hello, to you too.” He can basically see her roll her eyes at him.

“Hi. Why didn’t you answer your phone? And why didn’t you call me back?”

“Because my phone was dead. I didn’t think about charging when I woke up.”

“Didn’t think? Liam, have you got any idea what is going on right now?”

Liam glances at his bedside table and sees that it is only a few minutes past 4 pm. “No? I’m not sure what you are on about.” He answers honestly.

“Online articles are already published.”

“What about?”

“You and your not to secret relationship slash one-night-stand with Harry Styles!”

Suddenly his throat is closed up. _How did they find out?_

“Liam?” He doesn’t react. There are a billion questions floating through is head right now.

“Liam!”

“It was only once, I swear!” He blurts out.

“Liam.” Amanda sighs. “I thought you knew that you had to be discreet about these kind of things. Especially with a famous person. And absolutely careful when you are straight in the public eye. Hell, Liam. Why didn’t you tell me you liked boys too? We could have worked that into one of your interviews or could have released a statement. This is hell out there right now!”

“I didn’t know!” He almost screams. “It was kind of a spurt of the moment thing. I normally have more class than a shag in the car.”

“In the car? Holy shit, Liam.”

“I was sure no one had seen us. The parking lot was empty.” Harry thought so, too. How could anyone have found out.

“What did you do with the driver? Did you pay him to give you some privacy?”

“What driver? We were parked.”

“The cab driver.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You took a cab to yours yesterday. With Harry! And you had sex in a cab?! What did you do with the driver, Liam?”

“Yesterday? Nothing happened yesterday.” Now Liam has no clue at all what his manager in on about.

“So you didn’t have sex with Harry in a cab yesterday?”

“No.”

He hears Amanda let out a relieved breath. Then she sucks in another one fast. “But you just admitted that you had sex with Harry in a car once. Liam, what trouble did you bring upon yourself?”

The singer feels sweat droplets on his forehead.

“When we did the interviews in the studio, one interviewer pointed out that Harry is my type. Would be my type. The next day we had an argument about it and we kind of got carried away and ended up fucking in my car.” He closes his eyes in shame even though Amanda can’t see him.

“Alright. Thanks for telling me. At least I know now that you weren’t as reckless last night.”

“What is the fuss even about? What lies did they make up this time?”

“Actually, it is not much lies, more like facts. There is an eye witness that saw you and Curly dancing very close last night, then we have the pap shots and videos of you two leaving the bar hanging off each other. Being way too close and Harry being caught on tape saying that he’ll come back to yours. But that isn’t all. There were paps outside your house this morning when Harry left. Freshly showered, looking well rested and wearing your clothes, Liam. That is material that leads to speculation.”

“But this also isn’t the first time I’ve had a mate over after a club night.”

“You are right, it isn’t. It is just that with you and Harry never being close until that song, there had already been a lot of speculation. Now there are all those pictures of you hanging out and writing a love song for god’s sake.”

“But that is just how this business works.”

Amanda sighs again. “I know love. Get some rest. Your team will handle this. And if you want to talk about this all, you know you can call me, right?”

“Yes, thank you Amy.”

“Just remember to stay offline for a bit. I don’t want you to see this mess right now. No talking to press, or bloggers, or other people who would most likely post it on the internet, no trying to solve the problem yourself, no contacting Harry on any social media, no leaving the house.”

“I know. Just flying under the radar until the coast is clear.”

Amanda tells him not to worry and hangs up.

Liam knows he should not worry, but he also knows he should be a little worried at least that the world now knows that he is bisexual. Even if Liam hasn’t even labelled himself that. He knows that he loved his ex-girlfriends when they were still together and he knows that he slept with Harry because he wanted to. It wasn’t an experiment.

He checks his phone and sees that Nicola has left him a voice message.

_“Good morning, little brother. You know that I normally don’t believe all that they write in the tabloids about you, but if there really is something going on with that Styles kid, you should tell mum and dad that you like boys. If you feel ready to tell them. You know that they’ll support you no matter what, just like me and Ruth, but they deserve to hear it from you and not some neighbour that read the papers. Love you, baby brother.”_

His parents. Oh god. What if they get shit talked to about their son not being straight? He doesn’t want that. But he also is not ready to talk to them yet. Liam knows he should and shouldn’t do some things now, but he can’t bring himself to do that.

He just needs a good cuddle. He calls for Watson who happily lets himself be moved on the couch so that Liam can cuddle him. Liam is really content with the fact, that his dog is as big as half a horse. He ends up falling asleep, dreaming of horses running around his home.

\---

A few days later, Liam has a meeting with the whole production team. The pictures from the photoshoot have been sorted and Harry and he need to choose a cover picture and a few others for the back, the inlet and promotion.

It is always overwhelming for him to see how much effort it takes to publish a song. And Liam is only involved in maybe half of it. He just lends his voice, his face and his opinion.

When Harry arrives, he greets Liam with an exaggerated kiss on the cheek and a ”Hello, boyfriend!”. Liam just stands there dumbfounded, gaping at him open mouthed and not knowing what to say.

Harry holds up the charade for a few seconds longer before he doubles over laughing, clapping his own leg in the process. “You should see your face. It is hilarious.”

Liam frowns. “How is my face hilarious?”

Trying and failing to get his shit together, Harry answers: “You thought I was being serious. I could see the gears turning in your head and not understanding a thing.”

Liam does not find that funny. But he won’t be a dick about it. They have come a long way and even if it doesn’t look like it, Liam is fairly sure that this was more like a friendly prank than making fun of Liam.

They get called over to look at the photos and Liam is thankful for the interruption.

The thing with the pictures is that, no matter what picture you look at, Harry and Liam look good together. The looks that they shoot each other, perfect for a cover of a love song. Liam is torn between not looking at the one where they almost kissed and glancing at it over and over again. Luckily that one isn’t the one they’re choosing.

On the cover of ‘Tear my world apart’ is a shot of the two singers back to back, arms crossed, but glancing over their shoulders at each other.

“Look at those arms!” Apparently Harry can’t keep his mouth shut. “Should have taken advantage of them when we were together that night…”

“Will you shut up?”

“Boys! Keep it together. This is work, so show some restraint until you’re at home.”

“Amanda!” Liam hisses, but she just raises an eyebrow at him while Harry smirks knowingly.

\---

Somehow Liam survives the next few hours where Harry makes countless innuendos. It makes something warm swoop in his belly and sends a shiver down his back.

There is no denying he’s good looking and when Harry’s gaze meets Liam’s, he melts a little more every time.

“Alright, boys. You are free to leave. We’ll post the cover art on your social media accounts once it’s finished. Tomorrow, the first bunch of CDs will be printed on. Won’t be long until we can sell the first copies.” Tom informs them.

After saying his goodbyes, Liam feels Harry crowd into him from behind. “Got any plans?”

Does that mean, that Harry wants to hang out with him? _No good idea!_ As long as Liam isn’t sure what’s got his heartbeat picking up whenever he is around Harry, he should keep the contact to him to a minimum. Especially when Harry behaves even more sexual than normal. Another slip won’t be excusable for Liam. He can’t be trusted around Harry who constantly reminds him what activities they could try out that involve getting naked.

“I do, actually.” He manages to say. His duet partners smirk falls off his face. “So, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”

Without another word Liam leaves.

\---

He may have told Harry, he had plans, but that was a little white lie, he just wants some space. The last few days he spent distracting himself by doing the chores he had neglected for weeks. When he arrives at home he takes care of his dog, but that barely takes 5 minutes. Sitting on his couch Liam tries to get his head sorted, but it is pure chaos in there and Liam knows only one way to clear his mind.

“Watson, wanna go for a run?”

A few minutes later Liam is running through the streets with Watson. They choose alleys and smaller streets to get to the patch of green Liam knows must be somewhere in the neighbourhood.

The run was supposed to clear his mind, help him figure out what is going on in his life, but all Liam can think of is Harry.

Harry with his ridiculous floral shirts, Harry sleeping on Liam’s couch in the basement, Harry cuddling with Watson, Harry’s voice singing the lyrics of their song for the first time, snippets of hot skin against hot skin, tattoos only lit by a few streetlamps off in the far distance, lips so close he could kiss them …

Liam stops dead in his tracks. He fancies Harry.

But, no! That’s not possible. He is just confused because they get along for once after having hated each other for years. But the feeling he gets around Harry is not like how he feels around his mates, it is more like when he was together with his now ex-girlfriends.

It makes sense somehow; Harry is hella attractive with his long legs, lean but defined torso, tattoos, brown curls, amazing green eyes and pink lips. He also makes Liam laugh and blush, the charming little fucker.

Everyone that has met Harry is endeared by him.

Why hasn’t Liam realised his crush sooner? And when did he start having feelings for him?

Watson’s barking brings Liam back to reality. His dog is running back and forth between him and the line of trees in front of them.

Slowly, Liam starts up his jog again. His brain is having a battle of _This can’t be true!_ _Why did I not notice this sooner?_ and _What do I do now?_

The last one is the most pressuring one because Liam will not be able to act like nothing has changed. He will not be able to look at his duet partner the same way. And he will have to spend a lot of time with him, with promo, interviews and all.

He really needs a plan.

\---

The plans first step is to shower. The second step is to call his parents. Once he got the pressing news off his chest, he’ll for sure feel better.

He opts for video chat because he’ll rather do this face to face. Or as face to face as it’ll get with Liam having work in London while his parents are still living in Wolverhampton.

While the call connects, worry has Liam chewing on his finger nails.

“Hello, love.” His mother greets him. “Didn’t I always tell you not to chew on your nails?”

Hastily, he places both hands in his lap.

“Sorry.”

“To what do I own the pleasure? Geoff, come here! Our son is calling.”

When his dad enters the screen, Liam starts twiddling his thumbs.

“I wanted to tell you guys something.” It takes a lot of will power, but Liam lifts his head to look at his parents faces. “Something I have discovered just recently.”

“You are not sick darling, are you?” His mum asks.

“No, it’s nothing bad. At least I don’t think it is.” Karen had always been close to the water, but Liam doesn’t know how she managed to get teary eyed already. “Mum, don’t cry, please. I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“You know we love you no matter what, right? There is nothing you could do to make us love you less.”

Now Liam is the one with the tears in his eyes. “I know. I love you guys!”

“We love you, too.” His dad says while his mum wipes her eyes. “Take all the time you need to tell us. Do it when you are ready, son.”

Liam takes a breath and decides to get it over with.

“I noticed that I like guys, too. Like I like girls.”

“Is that just a recent development or ...?”

“No. I don’t think so. There was just no guy that swept me of my feet like … like…”

“Like that Styles kid?” Always hitting the bullseye, his dad.

Belatedly Liam realizes that the sob he just heard was his own.

“Liam, I know that it can be weird talking to your parents about your love life, but we are all ears for you. And you are always welcome to visit us.”

“Thank you. But I’ll be fine. I just wanted to tell you. So now you know the truth behind all these speculations.”

“Take some rest, love. I think you need it.”

“I will. Love you!”

“Love you, too!”

The call disconnects and Liam is left with the silence of his home. He buries his head in his hands and stays like this until he feels a wet snout press against his hand.

“Watson.” He half chuckles, half sobs. Liam reaches out and cuddles his dogs head to his chest. Watson takes the opportunity and licks Liam’s face.

“I can always count on you, can’t I?” Liam asks. Watson barks happily in his face and waggles his tail.

\---

Liam is nervous. His hands are sweating, so he dries them on his trousers. He thought about this moment a lot. The moment where he is gonna meet Harry for the first time since their last meeting. The first time since Liam’s realisation. Today is the day of the single release.

The first radio play of ‘Tear my world apart’ will be on Radio 1. Where Liam is right now, waiting for Harry to arrive. Harry isn’t here yet, but he ought to be coming any second now.

It is early in the morning, 10 minutes to 8 am, 10 minutes till Nick Grimshaw will announce their single and hit that play button.

Liam figured he must be professional about his crush. Not spring him the second he walks through that door. No staring at him like he hung the moon and the stars. Maybe flirt back a little, but only a little.

The door opens when the last song is about to end. Harry waves a hand at his friend, Nick, and takes a seat next to Liam. The song ends and Nick takes over their introduction.

“Today I have two very special guests with me… Liam Payne and Harry Styles! Say hello guys.”

It is the cue Liam has been waiting for. “Hello, beautiful people.”

Even Harry greets the listeners. “Good morning.”

“The two are with us this morning for the first radio play of their new single. Here is ‘Tear my world apart’. Enjoy.” The song starts playing and their mics get turned off.

“Harold, you had me in panic for a bit. Where were you? I almost thought you wouldn’t turn up.” Nick asks Harry who hasn’t looked at Liam once since he got in. “You alright?”

“I’m fine. Just…” He looks at Liam from the corner of his eyes. “Was a bit late, is all.” Harry is acting weird. It doesn’t take an expert to notice that. Is he just nervous about publishing their song? No, that can’t be it. Harry has done that lots of times before.

With how he is staring at Harry, Liam doesn’t notice the way Nick is studying him. “Is this about the thing you told me before?”

Harry shifts in his seat. He simply nods.

Now Liam has absolutely no clue what is going on. It must be something personal if they can’t talk about it aloud.

The song is ending and Liam mentally prepares himself for the interview. Interviews always make him nervous, because he never knows what he will be asked. And this is live, so they can’t cut anything out. But he trusts Nick, has met him a few times and he seems like a correct guy.

“This was ‘Tear my world apart’ by Liam Payne and Harry Styles! We have them with us in the studio this morning. Since you are already here, why don’t we talk a bit about the single?”

“Of course. Ask away.”

“Let’s hear what you came up with, Grimmers.”

“The song is clearly a love song. Is there a love interest in your lives right now?”

If possible, Harry’s mood sinks further. “Hitting right with the tough questions, are we?”

“Moody as always, our Mister Styles. How about you, Liam? Is there someone you got your eyes on?”

Liam tries very hard not to look at Harry when he answers. “There is in fact someone I like.”

“Oh, you heard it here first, Liam Payne will soon be off the hook if he isn’t already. Has this someone inspired your work on the song, Liam?”

This time Liam can’t help looking at Harry, who is looking down at where he is twirling the rings on his fingers. “No, it is rather new.”

“Well, then I can only wish you the best. While you are here, why don’t you introduce the next song, Liam? You can read it from the monitor in front of you.”

Leaning forward a bit so he can read the title, Liam says “Playing next is ‘The sound’ by The 1975.” The song starts and Liam starts bobbing his head to the music. “I love that song!”

“Really? Harry does, too. Don’t you, Harry. He is right the fan of The 1975.”

For the first time today, Harry looks Liam in the eye. “Yeah. Been a fan of their music for ages.”

“He has also met them a few times. Why don’t you show him a picture, Harold?” Nick has a quiet stare down with Harry, that the singer apparently loses, because he reluctantly pulls his phone from his pocket.

While he searches for the picture, Liam uses the time efficiently by watching Harry. He is wearing long checkered trousers and a long armed black shirt. The look suits him. His fingers scroll up and down on his phone, swap between folders and just look so good with the various rings Harry is wearing. Also, his ‘concentrating’ face is really cute. His brows furrow and he draws his bottom lip into his mouth to bite on it.

Vaguely he registers Nick taking over the radio again, but it’s only when Harry lays his phone to the side that it dawns on him that the interview has started back up again. And he totally missed the question.

“Yeah, it was really fun. We had a lot of good shots. It was really difficult to choose the right one for the cover.”

“I can only imagine with two good looking guys like you. Why don’t you tell our listeners a bit about the writing process? It must have been tough, since your solo material is so different.”

“To be honest, we did have a bit of trouble at the start. But the song turned out pretty good.” Harry answers.

“Once we had gotten our heads into it, we kind of clicked. From then on it was easy.” Liam adds.

“Sounds like you two are a true dream team. Stay tuned for more Harry and Liam. But first have a listen to Niall Horan’s single ‘Slow hands’.”

Liam has heard the song a few times, it is really good, and he never had a problem with the lyrics until now. The lyrics are quite sexual and Liam can’t help but compare them to his and Harrys one-night stand, how it wasn’t slow at all. If Harry were at a right mind today, he for sure would throw an innuendo at Liam. He is really missing out on an opportunity. Harry takes a deep breath, maybe he doesn’t let this chance pass.

“Did you have a good time last week? Bet she put on right the show for you.”

“What?” Liam doesn’t get it. What is Harry talking about?

“Or maybe you were the one who teased her. Yeah, now that I’m thinking about it, you like putting on a show. And with how tired you look, I bet she gave you good last night.”

“Harry!” Nick addresses the singer. “Don’t do this to yourself.”

Harry lets out an angry huff of breath. “I’m an adult, I can make my own decisions.” He looks at Liam with dark eyes. “I think I need some fresh air. The one in here is so used.” With that he pushes out of his seat and walks out of the room.

Liam’s mouth is still agape and he can’t get his head around what just happened. He voices this to Nick.

“Don’t ask me. He probably just got up on the wrong side of the bed. I apologize on his behalf. He didn’t mean to talk bad about your girlfriend.”

“What girlfriend?” Does everyone talk in riddles today?

“Your special person. The one you fancy. The girl you had a date with last week. Harry told me about it.”

“I didn’t have a date last week. Haven’t had one for at least a year.”

“Really? Harry said something like that. Told me he asked you out but you already had plans.”

When did Harry ask him out? Wait, does Nick mean in a friend way or in a date way? And when did he have plans. His schedule has been stuffed with work.

Going at it from a different angle he thinks back to the day he had last seen Harry. It was the day when they picked put the pictures. Harry had acted normal then. Thinking about it now, Harry did ask him about his plans that day.

“I didn’t have a date that day. I just needed some time alone. Did he find out that I lied to him? Is that why he is so weird today?”

“I admit Harry can be quiet the drama queen, but I am sure, Harry would never go so over the top.” Nick is probably right, he has been friends with Harry for a few years now. “Look, why don’t you just talk to him? He’ll soon realise what a dick he was and will apologize.”

“Yeah, I really think we should talk.” Liam murmurs.

\---

**LONDON CELEB NEWS**

**Today is the day we got to hear the duet of Liam Payne and Harry Styles. We first got to hear the tune this morning on the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show with Nick Grimshaw, where the two singers also answered a few questions.**

**The last info we got on the two was a possible romance and this morning Payne confirmed that he in fact got his eyes on someone and that it is a new love. Bets are made who he is talking about, but let us count two and two together.**

****1\. His attraction to this person is a rather new discovery, just as new as his work with Styles.** **

**2\. Liam gets on well with the other singer and we just recently learned that he is his type.**

**3\. Also, let’s not forget that they are already rumoured to be in a relationship.**

 

**Conclusion: Liam Payne wrote a love song on unexpected love and accidently fell in love with his duet partner.**

\---

Liam was forced to end the interview alone because Harry did not show up again. But Liam knows that he’ll see him again this evening on their single launch party that Tom and Amanda are throwing them.

The event is held at a ‘neutral place’ as Amanda called it. The localities are in the outer parts of London and are normally used for weddings, which Liam thinks is kind of ironic. But it gives the popstars and their team the needed privacy before the big promo tour.

Liam’s outfit is a simple pair of loose fitting jeans with a shirt. When he arrives, the party is already in full swing. Liam spots Tom and Amanda almost immediately. They are chatting near the entrance, although chatting doesn’t seem like the right word. Arguing would be more fitting.

“You don’t have the right to decide that!” Is what he hears Amanda hiss at Tom.

“Guys, what is going on?” He asks as he approaches them.

“Liam, hi!” Amanda looks caught for a second before she schools her features. “Love, it is nothing you have to worry about.” She pats his shoulder in a supposed to be comforting way, but it ends up being awkward. As far as Liam can remember, it has never been awkward with Amanda after she had seen him naked by accident for the first time. Something must be up, but Liam has a feeling he should not try to help this time.

With a glance at Tom she tells Liam that she’ll handle it. Amanda squeezes his shoulder a last time before she goes outside. A few moments later Robbinson follows her. Now alone, the singer decides to walk around a bit and greet a few people, see who showed up.

After about half an hour of casual chatting and being handed drinks, he spots Harry at the bar. By the looks of it he already had a few.

“Hey, Harry, hey!” When Harry turns around to him, his irises are already dilated with alcohol. “Mate, maybe you should slow down. It is still a bit early for that.” He gestures at the full glass of what seems to be Long Island Ice Tea in Harry’s hand and the bar.

“Aww, Liam, that is so sweet. Still looking out for me even when I don’t give a fuck. Where did you leave your bird? Or is she already chatting up other guys?” Harry gulps down a huge amount of his drink, then lets out a satisfied moan.

Biting his tongue, Liam restrains himself form taking the glass from Harry, knowing it would only spur on an argument or worse, a fight. Even though Harry is clearly not the mood to have a serious conversation right now, he needs to talk to him about this morning. Him thinking Liam went on a date has him in this bad mood, even though Liam doesn’t know why. He needs to tell Harry the truth.

“Hazza, I gotta tell you something…”

“What did you call me?” Harry is standing up straight as an arrow now.

“I … I called you Hazza. Is something wrong with it?”

“No, I. I like it.” He is looking Liam in the eyes with a small smile dancing on his lips. Liam has to clear his throat before continuing.

“What I wanted to tell you is, you know, um, there was a bit of a misunderstanding.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not seeing anyone. I haven’t had a date in like ages. I just needed some time to myself, that is why I told you I had plans last week.” Harry’s face shows what is going on in his brain right now. First, it’s confusion, then realisation, embarrassment and then hurt. The last two Liam doesn’t get.

“You could have just told me that I was bothering you. I would have giving you space.” Styles is looking down at his drink now, stirring what is left of it with a straw.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Liam rushes to say, once he realised that Harry is hurt that he didn’t want to spend his free time with him. “I can’t tell you now, but it is not what you think it is about.”

“Is it not? I think I have a pretty clear image of what is going on.” The green-eyed lad looks at his drink with disgust and sets it down on the countertop. “I need some fresh air.” He says and without looking back at Liam he walks towards the entrance. _Not again_ , Liam thinks. He is about to set after his crush when Amanda gets in his way.

He groans. “Amanda, I need to…”

“Liam, wait. I have something to tell you. It is important.” It is the pleading look in her eyes that makes him stop from trying to push past her.

“What is it?” he asks suddenly worried.

“Not here. Somewhere a bit more private would be good.” She looks around, then grabs his hand when she has a plan of where they could go. Amanda leads him to a room across from the loos.

The room is almost empty, only filled with a mirror and a desk with a stool. Amanda is leaning against the desk which leaves Liam standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“What is it you want to talk about?” He starts.

“Liam, what I am about to tell you has been a secret for about seven years.” She starts.

“Why are you telling me about it then? Why now?”

“The circumstances are different. You are different.”

“It has to do with me?” Liam did not expect that.

“Let me start from the beginning, please. It will make it easier to understand.” He nods his agreement and she starts telling the story with heavy breaths. “I had just finished uni, I searched for a job for a while and was really happy and proud of myself when ‘Sunbooth Records’ gave me the opportunity to work with one of their clients; you. I was so excited, I saw you on the X-Factor and it was all a bit overwhelming for me. It was such a big step. Soon after I became your manager, I had a meeting about your media appearance. Well, that was what they told me it was about. It wasn’t just about what the public eye though of you, but also about what you thought about some people in the business. Liam, I am not proud of what I have done and I am deeply sorry about it, but please understand that it was hard for me to do it in the first place. It was all part of a bigger plan, part of a long-time plan. I didn’t want to do it, but it was my first job and I was worried that it would also be my last one in the business if I refused.” Amanda takes a second to wipe at the tears that are prickling her eyes and Liam wants to go over and hug her, but she straitens and continues.

“It was at that time that Curly signed a contract with ‘Stardust Records’ and Tom became his manager. He too was at the meeting and we were both hit with the opportunities of this coincidence. Two boys, fresh from the X-Factor with no knowledge of how this business works and so easy to trust people. The plan was to make you two hate each other. And that wasn’t even that hard. You already didn’t like him that much from your TV experience. Once in a while, Tom and I would tell you guys something about the other that wasn’t true, but we knew you would believe us, your friends. I am truly sorry, Liam.”

Tears are now falling down her face, but Liam is too shocked to do anything about it. The world is crashing down around him. The one and only person he trusted in this business lied to him from the start. Doesn’t matter that it were just lies about Styles, it is his trust that is broken. He would have never expected such a thing from Amanda.

“What else have you lied about?” His voice wavers.

“Liam, please. It isn’t like that. I didn’t lie to you on the regular, it was just about Styles. Only about him.” She pleads.

“How do I know you are not lying to me now? Is this too part of your oh so grand plan?” Frustration seeps into his tone and he can’t help being angry at how desperate he is to hear her tell him it was all just a stupid prank and she is still his friend.

“Liam, I know it is difficult for you, but you have to believe me. I want only the best for you that is why I am telling you about it now.”

“Is this what you think is best for me? Then you don’t know me as much as you thought.” It hurts, losing a friend, a sister almost.

“It will get better, I promise. As much as I wish it was over now, I am not done yet. You don’t know the whole truth yet. Please, listen.”

Liam was contemplating just leaving the room, the party even, but he can hear the desperation in her voice. She is hurting too, and he can’t have that. “Tell me.” Taking a deep breath, she does.

“The plan, the plan was to have you guys hate each other and make the most profit out of it. You two were rivals on the reality show and the plan was to have it continue in the music industry. You released songs and albums almost always on the same day, it was a competition. And your fans, bless them, took on the challenge and took you higher in the charts and the sales. As I told you, the plan was made for the long run. And then a few month ago you guys reached the finish line. It had come to the final act that could go in two directions and either of those would make a lot of profit. The collaboration was the final show off. You would either keep fighting and with your ongoing rivalry you would rock the charts and the news, or you two would become friends and the single could be sold as a first step into friendship after a years-long rivalry.” Amanda takes a step forward and approaches Liam.

“When you told me that you slept with Harry, I knew I had to tell you. I have known you for so long, I know that you wouldn’t just sleep with anyone if you weren’t having feelings for them. Even though they must have been hidden deeply because I know for sure that you hated Harry, I was the cause of it. I contemplated what to do, eventually you would find out that a lot of what I told you about Harry wasn’t true and then you would ask me. I decided to take the jump in the cold water and tell you, but I am not alone in this race. I had to talk to Tom first. He told me not to, but I couldn’t, I can’t keep you from someone who might make you really happy, someone you may love. I can’t help wondering what would have happened had we not told you both lies about the other. Maybe you would have gotten on way better. Maybe you would have dated. I know you must be confused, maybe nothing makes sense to you now, but I just wanted that to end for you, all the lies. I want you to be happy. Even if I won’t be a part of your life anymore after tonight.”

Amanda slowly lifts a hand to Liam’s face to wipe away a tear that Liam didn’t even know escaped his eye. “I never thought I’d be the cause of you crying. Happy tears maybe, at my wedding, but never like this. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what I did to you. But please don’t let this stand between you and Harry.”

“How would you know he’d even want me?”

“He and Tom are like you and me, friends. They talk about personal stuff, too. And he told me how miserable Harry has been for the last one and a half weeks. On our last meeting together, he was so clearly flirting with you and today, Liam, I heard what went down at the radio this morning and this evening, the only place I had seen Harry was at the bar. He has been off since that day and so were you. I can count two and two together. Curly clearly likes you.”

“Amanda, I…”

“I know. We can talk about us later. Now get your boy.”

“This right now is important. You have been a part of my life in the most difficult moments and you always were on my side. You will always be a part of my life. What you just told me hurts, but you stuck to my side all this time, you were always on my side, through good and bad. It will take some time until I can trust you again, but you decided to tell me the truth and once again put my own well being over of yours. I can’t leave you at the side lines hurt.”

Liam closes the distance between them and pulls her into a hug. “I am so thankful for you!” She whispers into his shirt.

As they part Liam asks “Who were you talking about when you said ‘they’?”

“Oh, did I not say? It was the plan of your record labels.”

The labels. Of course. They get the most profit out of the lie.

“I have to speak to Harry!” Liam gives Amanda a tight smile and leaves the room in search of his duet partner.

Harry isn’t near the bar, neither is he in the loos or on the dance floor. Just as he is about to head outside to start looking there for him, he hears Tom’s voice over speakers. “Test, test, 1 … 2 … 3.” Liam turns around and sees Tom standing on a small podium with a microphone. “Hello, everybody. If you don’t know me, I am Tom Robbinson, the manager of Mister Styles. My friend Amanda Smith, who is Liam’s manager, and I arranged this little party for our clients for their duet release. It has been a long stressful road but the single is finally out. I’d like to bring the men of the hour on the stage, Liam, Harry, where are you at?”

Liam would rather not be put in the spotlight just this once, please. There is so much going on in his head right now and the only way out he can think of is talk to Harry.

“Liam, there you are.” Shit, Tom spotted him. In hindsight, Liam was not even hiding, just standing in a crowd of people unmoving. “Why don’t you come up here and give a little speech?”

Despite not wanting to, Liam makes his way up the stage. The people cheering around him settle something in him, at least that part is familiar. They all look happy (and tipsy) and they are here for Harry and him, the least Liam can do is thank them for their time and all the effort they put into making the single launch possible.

He takes the microphone Tom is offering him and clears his throat. “Hi, I’m Liam.” The crowd starts giggling. Great start, as if they don’t know who he is. “I feel honoured and blessed to have worked with so many amazing people like you. Without you I wouldn’t be on this stage, on any stage. So Thank you for being with me today. Or with us, I should probably say, even when I do not know where the curly one is.” A few laughs from the crowd. Good thing that they all have drunk a few.

“My manager has enlightened me to a few things just a few minutes ago and it has changes the way I view things. You all should know that I take none of you for granted and that I am thankful for all the work you put into my music, my styling, production and everything. Also, a massive thank you to Harry’s team that has welcomed me so nicely.” Liam secures the mic securely in the limited space between is arm and his torso and starts clapping for his co-workers. Those go along with it and applaud for the others and Liam, adding some cheers.

For a final goodbye from the stage, Liam adds “The bar is over there, pay it a visit, drinks are for free.” For which the crowd goes crazy. Liam uses this as his escape and passes Robbinson the microphone on his way to the garden.

Since the property is on the outer parts of London, the garden is massive. And barely lit. The moon, in form of a toenail, is not doing much to light up the garden next to only a few lamps. Liam can only hope that he doesn’t step into a hole on his search for Harry. If he even is outside. He could have gone back inside or gone home, even.

“Quite the speech you held in there.” Liam flinches at the voice from behind him. He may be closer to a heart attack now, but at least he doesn’t have to walk around in the dark looking for Harry. Liam turns around to see said singer leaning with his back against the wall next to the door Liam just walked out of.

“I was looking for you.” Liam says.

“And now you found me.” With the darkness outside Liam can’t really see Harry’s face, but Liam doesn’t need to see his facial expression to know that Harry is annoyed about that fact. Liam knows he is right when Harry backs away from the wall and salutes him. “Well, what a shame that I have to go now.” He turns around and starts walking towards the car park.

“Harry, wait. It is important.” Harry doesn’t stop, just keeps walking. To be honest, the brown eyed singer would have been surprised if that line would have stopped his duet partner.

“See you on Monday, Liam.”

“I hate you!” At this Harry stops dead in his tracks and half turns. His mouth slightly agape and the hurt in his eyes makes Liam’s stomach turn. “Bullocks, I used to hate you. I don’t hate you now. Definitely not.”

“What is wrong with you?” Harry asks. The hurt is quickly replaced with anger.

“I … don’t know.” A low chuckle escapes Liam. “I had this talk with Amanda earlier and it opened my eyes. All my career was built on lies. And yours too.” With how angry Harry now looks, Liam did not choose his words wisely.

“What the hell? If you just want to insult me I better go…”

“Wait, no! I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to say that we both were part of a bigger scheme.”

“Do you want to talk about the gods above now, or what? Liam, I don’t have time for that shit.” With that Harry turns around and starts to leave again, Liam only a few steps behind.

“You were lied to. Just like me. To make more profit.” The green-eyed lad just keeps on walking.

“That is nothing new, Liam.”

“By our labels, since the beginning.” Harry slows down and half turns back to Liam.

“Liam, I hate to break it to you, but we were young and foolish back then. We did not know how this business works and it seems to me like you still got no clue.”

Harry turns back around and starts off towards his car. Liam is getting desperate.

“I was fooled into hating you. They told me lies about you to make me hate you and they did the same to you. Through that they could make more money with us and our collab was the grand finale. Just think of all the money our labels made out of our feud.” Harry is still walking away, seemingly unaffected by what he is hearing.

“Amanda and Tom were in on it.” His duet partner stops just few feet short from his car.

“That is not true.”

“It is true. Amanda told me because she couldn’t keep lying.”

“Tom is my friend. He would never …”

“It was not just us that were young and foolish back then, Harry. It was their first job fresh from uni. They were frightened it would end their career before it even started if they denied.”

Slowly, Harry turns around. His body sank in on himself a bit. Defeat is in his eyes when he looks at Liam.

“I don’t … I don’t believe he would do something like that. He wouldn’t betray me like that.” He sounds unsure.

“I know you don’t want to be believe that, but I’m sure that if he had known you better back then, then he would not have signed that deal.”

Harry let’s out a dry laugh. “Great. Now everything in my live is in shards.” He runs a shaky hand through his hair. “What did they lie about then? Only you and me? How much of my success did I make with myself and how much with strategy?”

“Amanda assured me that they only lied to us about each other. To have us hate another. The sales might have gone up a bit, maybe we had more clicks in interviews because of it, but I believe that everything we achieved, we achieved because of our talent. All these awards you have won, you won because people like you and your music. Our feud had nothing to do with that.”

Harry steps back until his backside hits the car. He slides down to the ground where he buries his head in his hands. Liam hesitates for a minute before he sits down next to him,

“You just found out, too?” Harry addresses him.

“Yes, I did.” Liam looks sideways at Harry who is looking right back at him.

“Why are you so calm about this? Our closest friends, the people that have been with us since the beginning lied to us for over seven years to make more money.”

“Well, first of, Amanda told me about half an hour ago and I had time to compose myself. Second, I saw how much it pained her to tell me the truth. She didn’t have to, but she did anyway. Not to save her butt, but because it was best for me to find out through her now. And third, it’s not like she did get anything from the plan. The money all went to the labels. We were puppets for them.” Liam leans his head back against the car door and looks at the night sky where he can see a few stars. In London, you rarely see a single star in the sky. The lights of the city outshine them.

“You know what? On X-Factor I was jealous that everyone loved you immediately. You had everyone wrapped around your finger, still do, if you ask me. But I didn’t hate you. When I finally signed my contract and started working with Amanda, she told me all those things about you. The first thing I really believed was that you were a slag. She had told me all these stories of you fucking half London and then the papers said that too. I believed it because you used to flirt with a lot of people back on the X-Factor. I didn’t know you that well so when Amanda told me more about you I believed her, based on that one thing that seemed true to me. I just feel so stupid.”

Harry lets this all sink in for a few minutes.

“It was the same for me.” Harry starts. “I know that everyone puts on a persona when in the public eye and I didn’t really talk to you much backstage at the X-Factor so I couldn’t tell if the stuff Tom told me about you was true or not. He even showed me a report on you treating your staff badly. It must have been fake, but I was too shocked to look properly. It was easy to dislike you then.”

The two singers continue to sit there. The sounds of the party only noticeable in the silence between them. It feels like time has slowed down and Liam finally gets time to breath and think. He normally doesn’t have the time to just relax like this. Normally Liam stresses about work, barely has time to do anything else. Work consumes him and even though the launch party is technically a work event, Liam feels as loose as he hasn’t felt in ages. He is not worried about doing right or when to wake up to make it to a meeting in time. His mind is wonderfully blank, he doesn’t care what will happen. Sitting here is enough.

He is aware that things are going to change. Drastically. He may not be able to work with Amanda again, ‘Sunbooth records’ isn’t a place he feels comfortable at anymore and then there is Harry. Harry, who is sitting next to him, who he may have a chance with now. Who is so vulnerable right now, so different from what Liam thought he knew about him. Who knows what life has in store for them now.

A cool breeze makes Liam shiver. He should have brought a jacket with him.

“Are you cold? Maybe we should head back inside?” At the displeased look on Liam’s face Harry adds. “Or I could drive you home.”

“That is nice to offer, but I saw you drink quite a few very strong cocktails. You are not driving anymore tonight.”

“Oh. Sorry, I totally forgot about that.” Embarrassed, Harry scratches at the back of his neck.

“Paddy is still here. He can drive us home.” Liam pushes up off the ground, wipes his hands clean on his trousers and offers a hand to Harry. “Come on.”

Harry takes the hand tentatively and lets himself be pulled up. They are standing close now, Liam has to take a step back to not do something stupid. Like lean in and kiss those pink lips. Something flashes in Harry’s eyes and Liam drops his hand from where he was still holding onto Harry.

He clears he throat and gestures to the building. “We should …”

“Yeah.” Harry agrees, so they start their way back inside. “Who is Paddy?”

“Ehm, he is my Bodyguard, you sure have seen him around. Tall, bulky guy with dark hair, always dressed in black. He kind of doubles as a driver sometimes, since he is not allowed to drink during work hours. I have worked with him for six years now, I think. Paddy also takes Watson on runs or walks to the park when I am put in the spotlight or something.”

“That’s nice of him.”

“He is one of my closest friends. But also like a fatherly figure when I am touring the world.”

“Tom was the only constant in my live while I was on tour. I still don’t want to believe he would lie to me this long especially when I …” Harry drags a hand through his short curls. “Never mind.”

Liam wants to ask, but Harry looks mad at himself for bringing it up, so he lets it slip.

\---

They find Paddy on the edge of the dancefloor shimmying those hips of his to the beat.

“Paddy, mate. I’d like to go home early. Mind driving me home? And maybe dropping off this stranger on the way?” His bodyguard looks at them for a few short seconds before he nods his head.

“Alright. Want to head off now?” He asks.

“Yeah. If it’s no bother.”

“No problem, Liam.” Paddy fixes Harry with one of his you-better-be-up-to-no-evil-looks which causes Harry to throw his hands up to show he is not up to do any harm.

“I’ll go get the car. You guys say your goodbyes.” With that he is off.

“To be honest, I’d rather not go talk to Tom right now.” Harry confesses.

“Well, maybe you should say goodbye to the bartender then. Since you’ve spend most of the evening knocking back drinks.”

Harry groans, hiding his face in his hands, embarrassed. “Don’t remind me.”

Laying an arm around Harry’s shoulders, Liam moves them to the door. “Let’s wait outside then.”

\---

Turns out standing outside in the cold wasn’t the best of Liam’s ideas. Seeking the warmth Liam still radiates, even though he is cold himself, Harry cuddled closer in his arms and the singer has a weird sense of déja-vu. He is reminded of the night after the pub where the paps had followed them and Harry and Liam took a cab back to Liam’s place.

When Paddy stops the car in front of them, Harry opens the back door, climbs in and drags Liam in after him by the hand. It seems like Harry dropped the barrier that was between them and is now taking all of Liam he can get. If he only knew that Liam would give everything he is to Harry if he only asked.

The ride to Harry’s townhouse is mostly silent. Paddy already knew the address, but there are a lot of thing Paddy knows that Liam doesn’t even want to think about.

Harry has his head leaning against the cool window glass, not noticing that Liam is watching him. Or at least pretending he doesn’t. If he is uncomfortable with it he doesn’t say. But Liam can’t stop watching him. Watching the city lights dance across his face. Right now, Liam has a million song ideas and almost half of them are inspired by how the light always seems to catch on Harry’s lips, high lightening them in a way that should be criminal.

When they stop at Harry’s place, Harry turns to him with one of those suggestive smiles, Liam has come accustomed with. “Would you like to come inside?” To his offer he adds some ridiculous batted eyelashes.

That is how despite Harry’s suggestive offer, Liam knows he is joking. Which is kind of sad, because Liam would very much like to spend the night or at least a few hours with him. But he also knows that he should go home because Harry has been drinking all night and Liam has feelings that may not be returned and he does not want his heart to be broken over another night with Harry.

“In your dreams, Styles.” Is what he answers instead.

Chuckling, Harry scratches the back of his neck. “Right.”

He gets out of the door, but leans back in to thank Paddy for the ride home. After a quiet “See you on Monday, Liam.”, he closes the door.

Liam leans back in his seat and closes his eyes. Monday, the beginning of promo. Somewhere between interviews they also have to rehearse for their first live performance on Friday and shoot a music video for their single. Something they actually should have done way earlier. Seems like Harry leaving has flipped a switch inside of him and he can’t help thinking about work. The stress is creeping up on him. In the back of his mind he knows that everything that is coming up is over shadowed by a decision he is not sure he is ready to make.

“I want to go home, Paddy.”

His friend nods like he understands. Maybe he does.

\---

On Saturday Liam does not leave the house. He orders take away and skypes with his sisters. Watson and he watch all the Batman movies, again, and Liam cuddles him close in bed that night.

On Sunday, it is harder to escape reality. Amanda has send him a few texts about agencies and labels that she can confirm do not only have a good reputation but are actually good. Liam would much rather just have another lazy day with his dog, but he knows that the sooner he will make a decision, the sooner he will feel better.

So he looks up the agencies and labels Amanda send him and even does some research of his own. There are quite a lot of underdog agencies out there, but some of them really stick out to him. If Liam could choose, he would like to sign to a rather unknown label and risk them not really knowing what to do with him than to sign to a big label that only wants to get even richer. The good thing is that the choice is up to him. There is no pressure of not getting signed and never fulfilling his dream of becoming a singer on his back like it was seven years ago.

As far as a new manager goes, Liam will hire someone that does not come with a label, someone that has Liam’s own interests at heart. Perhaps someone a bit older than him, someone that isn’t impressed that easily, has some experience.

\---

On Monday, first on the list for Harry and Liam are radio interviews in London. After that, they have a meeting with the director of their music video and then the rehearsal for their performance on the ‘Graham Norton Show’ starts.

The interviews are going over easily enough. They already answered most of the questions they get asked, so they already know what to say which makes it is easier and not as nerve wrecking. The occasional game loosens up the boring work feel.

Spending time with Harry also is different than before. Over the past few weeks they got more collegial with each other, but being in the same misery kind of bonded them. Knowing that not everything he knows about Harry is true makes it more exciting to get to know each other. Sometimes either of them asks a random question that involves some information that they have about each other or rumours that seem to stick.

“Hey, did Tom once mention that my voice is totally unreal and autotuned?” Liam had asked on the way from one radio station to the other.

“I don’t remember. Wouldn’t have believed it either way. Heard you practicing on the X-Factor.”

The air between them is changed and it feels more open. They are not as closed off, like Friday night somehow has opened the gates for their friendship.

Harry is still a bit cross with him about the I-can’t-hang-with-you-I-have-plans-thing, especially since Liam still didn’t tell him the real reason why he needed a break from him. But they are working on it.

Around 10 am they have a meeting with the director of their music video. Liam hasn’t worked with him yet, but coming from the warm embrace Harry engulfs him in, Liam guesses that Harry knows Ben Winston.

Ben sets up sketches off what he has planned and then launches into detail.

“The idea I have for your video is a classic. We’ll combine the two elements water and earth. Harry will be the one in the sea and Liam, you will be the one on dry ground. It will all lead up to the moment water and earth will get together, ideally, we will show this at the beach. Also, the video will be shot it America where it is warmer and Harry won’t catch pneumonia.

“Sounds good. I am finally getting to be a mermaid.” Harry says.

“What about you, Liam? Do you like the idea?” The director asks.

“I do like it.”

“Great, then I’ll get this all sorted with your managers and you’ll get all the information you need from them.” Liam notices Harry grimacing and leans over to talk to him while Ben packs up his stuff.

“Did you not talk to Tom yet?”

“No.” Harry answers, staring stubbornly out the window.

“I know it is hard but you will feel better once you have heard his side of the story. After all he has been your friend for years and I know you still care about him.” Harry crosses his arms but doesn’t show that he listened.

“Harry, you are being childish.”

“Maybe I want to be a child for once.” Harry says, turning to Liam with a pout and sad eyes. The effect is kind of ruined by the tattoos lining up on Harry’s arms that contrast with that innocent look. Liam rests a comforting hand on Harry’s arms but can’t really help chuckling a bit. Harry tries to look mad, but his lips are fighting against a smile.

Liam can’t resist, he sticks one of his fingers out and wiggles it against Harry’s side, tickling him until he is squirming in his seat. Laughing he grabs a hold on Liam’s hand and smiles up at him.

They stay like that until a throat is cleared. Ben is standing next to them, smirking.

“I just wanted to say my goodbyes, Harold.” Harry lets go of Liam easily and throws himself into his mate’s arms like he is seeing him off to war. “See you Friday, then.”

They break the hug and Liam stands to shake Ben’s hand. The handshake is firm and Liam feels like he is being scrutinized. After what feels like minutes Ben lets go and nods at Harry. Liam has no clue what just happened and decides to just ignore it. His life is weird enough.

The next meeting is with the choreographer, Lindsey, a woman Liam has worked with on various occasions. She knows that Liam has some moves, but they both don’t know if Harry has potential since they have never seen him dance.

After a warm up they spend an hour finding out what Harry can do and Liam has never laughed more in his life. It turns out that Harry has two left feet and thinks he could pass for a ballerina. Liam has been sitting there, holding his legs from laughing while Harry parades around the room, attempting to do what their choreographer performs but ending up just doing silly moves.

“Good to know that you are not good at everything. That would have been a massive boost to your ego.” Liam laughs. Harry stops his movements in front of him and cocks his hip out.

“Is that a compliment, Liam? Are you saying I am good at everything, _everything_ , except dancing?” Liam’s laughter dissipates.

“Uhm…” Is all he comes up with. Harry leans forward with hooded eyes.

“Are you saying I was extremely pleasing when we were in your car that one night?” Liam should have seen it coming. As soon as they are on speaking terms again Harry would go back to those innuendos and teasing him. But worryingly enough he thinks of this one night quite a lot and would redo it any time if Harry was up for it. Presumably in a more comfortable place - like a bed.

Liam is saved from an answer by Lindsay who scolds Harry for not paying attention to what she is doing. She says she wants to get something done today and shoos Harry back in position. But Liam knows this was not the last time he heard about their one-night stand.

Lindsey works with them on their stamina until their vocal coach shows up. Helen does a thorough warm up with them, then she joins in on prolonging their boy’s stamina while singing.

They do a lunch break before rehearsing their song. It is the first time Liam sang the song fully with Harry and it is quite chaotic at first to be honest. The need a few tries before the lyrics come to them fully and then they try themselves on note changes. Helen gives advice for their breathing and points out parts that don’t go over smoothly.

They record the show on Thursday, so they have a few days left to rehearse.

At the end of the day Liam is tired out, but he has always liked performing most about his job and he appreciates the work that goes into a perfect performance.

On Tuesday Lindsey works with them on a simple choreography. It is mostly just moving in time with the music, one singer going that way while the other goes the opposite direction and so on. She had given up on proper dance moves after Harry landed face first on the ground one to many times after doing some foot work.

Helen comes in later again and works with them on their singing.

It is late Wednesday when they get the performance done without any fails for the first time. Liam is so relieved that he doesn’t think twice about it before he pulls Harry into a hug. Getting quickly over the surprise, Harry melts into his touch.

In the past few days they had gotten closer and closer, being proper friends now, but they stayed a bit out of the touching zone. That probably has to do with the fact that Liam knows what Harry looks like naked and he still isn’t over his huge crush on him that instead of disappearing only grows with every joke Harry cracks. But besides that they are just two normal blokes singing and dancing together, just being mates.

Payne reluctantly let’s go of Harry to embrace the women that were more or less patient with them.

“Thank you for working so hard with us.”

“It’s our job, Liam. I am glad that our hard work payed off. Now I think it’s in the interest of all of us that we go home now and rest up. It has been a long day.” Lindsey says.

“See you tomorrow.” Helen tells them as she slings her bag over her shoulder and leaves the room. Liam waves after her and goes over to his bag to pack all his things. When he is done he waits for Harry at the door, leaving Lindsey to close off the room.

“We made it.” Liam cheers as they make their way towards their cars.

“Yeah.”

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Liam wants to know.

“Not really. I mean - not more than usual. There always is the thrill to perform, to please and entertain the crowd, the fear of failure, but I like being up on stage. And this time I won’t be alone in the spotlight. I’ll have you to save my ass.”

“Not sure If I can save you from falling on your ass though. You seem to be born with two left feet.” Harry only laughs. A few weeks ago, Harry might have been offended, but it speaks for how much they have grown together that he understands it as the joke it is meant to be.

When they finally make it to the parking lot, Liam is hit with another set of déja-vu. Since he met Harry, Liam’s life is spinning on its axis and he finds himself in the same situations with Harry over and over again. The green-eyed lad seems to be feeling it too, since he has slowed has pace and is fiddling with his rings.

They reach Liam’s car first and stand awkwardly on the driver’s side before Harry drags Liam in for a goodbye hug. Liam expects him to say something like “Here we go again.” or something like this, referring to the night they had sex in Liam’s car, but Styles stays quiet.

“Get home safely.” He tells Liam as they part and Liam couldn’t possibly like him more.

\---

Liam wakes with a crick in his neck. He fell asleep on his desk, again. Since he came clean with himself about his feelings for Harry, he is inspired like he never was. The ideas are flying and lyrics just magically come to him, everywhere he turns, there is a new melody, waiting to be put on paper.

After he came home last night, Liam didn’t even think about turning in. He went straight to his desk, where he kept his notebook and started scribbling down. Liam left it at home, afraid that someone might see it and start reading it. Immediately getting a deep look inside Liam’s soul. He never laid himself so bare like he did with the songs he wrote over the last two weeks. Starting when he didn’t know why he was feeling this way to today, where he spent hours with the source of his inspiration.

Liam wrote down everything he felt. The whole rollercoaster ride of his feelings is pressed between several sheets of paper. He had always adored the way he could express himself through song writing.

Now though, Liam must hurry because he slept in way too late. He has to feed Watson and take a shower before Paddy gets here.

Liam manages to get ready just shortly before Paddy let’s himself in with his key. Watson storms past Liam to greet him, always happy to see Paddy.

“Alright, buddy?” Paddy laughs while he ruffles Watsons fur. To Liam he says: “Ready to go?”

Liam pats the back of his trousers to check for his phone, keys and wallet. He has got everything on him, so he nods to Paddy and cuddles Watson one last time before he and his bodyguard leave the house.

About 45 minutes later they arrive at the studio where the Graham Norton show is being filmed. Paddy and Liam head inside, greet the crew and get ready for soundcheck. Lindsey and Helen do the warm ups with the two singers while the tech guys test the sound and light system.

They do a run-through of their performance with the band and Liam must admit, he quite likes watching Harry in his element. It is like he lights up when he performs, made for the stage.

Liam is mesmerised and can’t help glancing at his duet partner. That, unfortunately, has him stumbling through the performance, setting the wrong foot in front of the other and mumbling incoherent lyrics.

Hellen and Lindsey are not pleased with him but give it a rest after the fifth run through.

“Go have a break before you exhaust yourself too much.” Lindsey tells them.

The two singers make their way backstage and of course Harry has to ask what’s wrong.

“Nothing. Just a bit nervous I guess.” Liam lies.

“Oh. Don’t worry. You’ll be perfectly fine. When the audience starts rooting for you, you’ll be too caught up to make mistakes.” Harry reassures him. The comforting hand on Liam’s shoulder is almost too much.

“Thank you.” He mumbles back and gets himself something to eat from the buffet set up in his dressing room.

He thought that Harry would return to his own dressing room or maybe talk to Lou, Harry’s stylist that is here to make both of them look pretty again, but when Liam turns back around with a plate full of food, Harry is laying on the couch with his phone in hand. Liam sighs and sits down on the opposite end and digs into his food.

Once he is finished, Harry’s feet automatically find their way into Liam’s lap where he strokes the ankles absentmindedly while tweeting fans and answering texts. They sit like that until they get called in for hair and makeup.

Lou does an amazing job at making Liam look like he had a good night’s sleep and not like he fell asleep on his desk. She also picked put a few outfits for them which they can choose from. On a closing rack like this one can see how different their styles truly are. While Harry is more into suits in ridiculous colours and patterns, Liam is into loose pants with a dropped crotch and loose t-shirts and hoodies, all preferably black, white and grey.

Today though, Liam chooses a light pink jumper and black jeans that are a bit baggy. As if to match him, Harry decides on a bright pink suit with a black shirt underneath.

In no time, they are ushered out to get ready for their big entrance. Helen does a last vocal warm up with them, since they will be no time for that during the show.

Jake Gyllenhall already welcomed the viewers at home to the Graham Norton Show, but he is already back in line to go on stage. Liam can see Graham Norton getting on stage, shouting his greetings to the audience. He gets through his monologue before he introduces the first guests of the show to the audience.

“Here tonight with us are Britain’s poshest comedic pair, you may have seen them together on the TV chat show ‘Blackchat’. Now they are coming to Netflix with their travel documentary ‘Jack Whitehall: Travels with my father’. Here are Jack Whitehall and his father Michael Whitehall.”

To a round of applause Jack and Michael go onto the stage and take a seat on the sofa.

“Our next guests are rocking the charts with their first duet together. Let’s give a warm welcome for Britain’s heartbreakers and tonight’s musical guests Liam Payne and Harry Styles.”

It is their turn to climb the stage now and as the lights hit them, applause and cheers erupt in the room. Liam waves at them while Harry bows with clasped hands. Both of them greet the two Whitehalls as if they hadn’t seen them backstage already and take a seat.

“And our last guest is a famous actor from across the pond. You may remember the Oscar Nominee from ‘Nightcrawler’ or ‘Okja’. He’ll be on the big screen next for the biographical drama ‘Stronger’ that he also produced. Great talent. Here is Jake Gyllenhall.”

Jake comes out to an excited crowd and greets them and the guests on the sofa as well. Norton takes a seat and the live taping of the show continues.

As always, the talk show is really funny and Liam is glad that Jack is here as well. He had the honour of working with him before, besides meeting him on several occasions, which gives the whole show a more familiar feel. He laughs quite a lot but still gets really nervous when Graham directs the questions at Harry and he specifically.

“So, our youngest guests on the couch have earned millions making solo music. Now they decided to take over the music world together with their duet ‘Tear my world apart’. It’s a love song, but to be honest the title doesn’t sound really hopeful.”

The crowd chuckles at Norton’s statement. Liam has sat on this couch before, he even watches some of the episode at home and he knows that the Irish man is a comedian, but it is still a bit hard to laugh the slight criticism away. Still he launches into the feeling the lyrics give him.

“Well, the idea behind the song is the feeling you get when you fall in love with someone and a wrong word from that special person can make your whole world shatter apart. It is about that time, when you don’t know what the other person feels and maybe you are putting yourself out there, waiting for approval or denial.”

“How did the idea of making a duet come together? Are you planning on becoming billionaires?”

“Well, it…” Actually, Liam doesn’t know what to say. He wanted to point out that their labels came up with that idea, but first of all that doesn’t feel like the right thing to say promotion wise. The fans will want to hear that the boys came up with it themselves. Second, in a matter of seconds Liam has taken the whirl round to panic and desperation, frustration kicking in since it is all a marketing plan, Harry and Liam being used to make more money.

A hand on his knee makes him look up. The blood rushing in his ears makes him unable to hear the squeals in the audience. Harry is looking at him, trying to find out how he is doing. He knows what Liam is thinking of right now. With a little nod, Harry lets Liam know that he’s got this. He will answer that question.

“I feel like it was a gradual development. We were both on the X-Factor and even after that time we were in a constant competition. Writing a song together, singing together, having ‘our baby’ published, it feels like the perfect way to show off our friendship.”

“You were trained well, I see. You were saying that you two have a strong friendship. Over the past few weeks the public interpreted the friendship more as a relationship. Even now you are sitting more coupley on the couch than actual couples we had on the show.” The whole time Harry hasn’t moved his hand away, only starting to run his fingers over the denim.

“Well, affection can be shown in different ways and interpreted very differently.”

“We have some photos from your photoshoot that fans have given a new setting. We should take a look.” Graham Norton turns his chair and pictures appear on the monitor behind him and on the ones on the floor.

Liam should be horrified of the amount of time fans spent into making Harry and he look more like a couple or worry about how many seem to ship them, but he can’t help imagining experiencing the situations they are shown in. In the kitchen cooking together, beneath the Eiffel tower, on the beach during a wedding ceremony…

From the crowd come a few _awws_ and _ahhs_ , even laughs, but Liam’s heart is beating wildly in his chest.

Thankfully the last picture reminds Jack of the time he and his father where they were on a beach with couples only, when filming the gap year and how weird it was for them. The conversation develops from there, saving Liam from having a heart attack on television.

Soon enough the two singers take the stage for their performance and something settles in Liam. This is familiar, it is just like Harry said. The nerves disappear as he launches into the first verse, interacting with the crowd on the side as Harry sings his part. He doesn’t mess up this time, the adrenaline pumping in his veins as the song finishes.

They are gifted with applause and standing ovations. They thank the audience and the band before hugging each other tightly for a few moments. Liam wouldn’t trade this moment for anything else.

They sit with the others for a few more minutes. Eventually though, Norton thanks the guests and the audience for coming and the viewers at home for watching. He tells them who’ll be on the show next week and that he wishes the viewers a good evening.

A producer gestures that they are out, so they all say their goodbyes and head backstage. The stars talk a bit, but soon head back to their homes and hotels.

Before Paddy ushers him out of the building, Liam hugs Harry goodbye and thanks him. Harry knows immediately what for and tells him that it was nothing.

“See you tomorrow.” He waves as he is lead outside where a car is waiting for him.

\---

**LONDON CELEB NEWS**

**Liam Payne and Harry Styles all coupley on ‘The Graham Norton Show’.**

**Last night was the taping of Fridays ‘Graham Norton Show’. Besides other guests our new favourite celeb couple sat on the sofa. We brought an insider into the live taping to give you the latest deets as soon as possible.**

**Norton himself mentioned that the two singers sat extremely close and more like a couple then other guests that actually were a couple, but when asked directly whether the rumours are true, Styles neither denied them nor confirmed them. At least now we know that the singer has at least some affection for his former X-Factor rival.**

\---

The flight to LAX leaves earlier than needed. Liam is almost dead on his feet and is even more thankful for Paddy than usually. He sleeps through most of the several hours flight. Only waking up when Paddy tells him to eat something.

When they land, Liam is not at all prepared for the warm air that hits him. Sleepy cold and used to the chilly September air back home he gets rid of his hoodie, for once glad he decided a layered look would be a good idea. The t-shirt he had on underneath blows up a bit with the wind on the airfield.

He stretches his tired limps and looks up in time to watch Harry climb down the stairs, holding on to his farmer hat. The green-eyed lad stumbles down the last few stairs, then grins at Liam who can’t help giving back that squinty eye smile of his. Harry may be a bit of a klutz, but he still is very handsome. And although his jokes aren’t really that funny, he has a really nice personality. In this moment, Liam realises he is in fact in love with Harry.

It is not as bone crushing as he thought falling in love with a friend would be. Instead he feels like a weight has lifted off his shoulders and he is free now. The realisation sinks in, that these feelings won’t go away as easily as a crush could.

The thought scares him. He’ll have to spend so much time with Harry now, doing the press tour in England and the USA, maybe even some other countries. Maybe he should tell Harry. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about him accidentally finding out. But then it would be weird between them. Harry for sure wouldn’t be so easy around him like he is now, wouldn’t be so sure to touch Liam whenever, always wary of what Liam might do. He can’t have that.

And even if there is a slight chance that Harry might like him back, like Amanda mentioned, Liam is too big of a coward to make the first move. He would pay much to have the courage to just walk up to Harry and kiss him, but that’s not possible so what is money worth anyway.

He startles at the hand on his shoulder. Turning around he sees Ben standing behind him, giving his shoulder one last squeeze before pushing him forward.

It is times like these that Liam really enjoys being famous and rich, because as he makes his way towards the cars parked near the _private jet_ (!), the staff stores all the luggage in the trunk. No waiting for ages for your luggage to arrive in the crowded airport, no needing to find your way through an airport as big as a small town, less chance of being spotted by paparazzi after an 11-hour flight.

They make their way to a five-star hotel in L.A., minus Harry, who takes the route to his house. The crew get a few hours break before they go check out the locations for the shoot and set up when they are satisfied. Paddy and Harry’s bodyguard make some calls to check if everything is still on plan with the local security and discuss if they want fences to keep out possible groups of people.

Since it is still early in the day, they are using the daylight to shoot the first scenes of the video. Specifically, Liam’s part since it will be shot at a different location than where Harry’s shoot and their duo shoot will be filmed.

Liam is impossibly bored in his hotel room, so he lets himself drown in his own misery. Why did he have to fall in love with someone he has the most complicated history with? Why did he have to have slept with this person ages ago to maybe possible ruin all his possible chances?

The ceiling doesn’t seem to have any answers for him.

It doesn’t help that Harry texted him about 20 minutes after Liam’s arrival at the hotel.

**_Are you alright? You looked a bit out of it at the airport. - H xx_ **

He has let his phone sat on his bed for an hour now. The screen slowly going black over the unanswered text.

Apparently, Harry took that as a sign that Liam was in fact not well. Just when Liam contemplates getting out of bed and maybe unpacking his stuff, even though he knows it is useless since he won’t be staying for long, there is a knock on the door.

“Liam? It’s me, Harry.”

Reluctantly, Liam heaves himself to his feet and opens the door, not without checking his hair in the mirror next to it first.

When the door is open, Harry looks a bit unsure about his being here. Admittedly, it is a bit strange to just show up at a friend’s just because he didn’t answer his texts, he could be sleeping after all. At least that is what Liam thinks why Harry is here. He could find all that out though if he were talking to Harry and maybe letting him in instead of just staring at him and thinking up possible scenarios in his head.

“Hi, do you want to … uh … come in?” He says once he finally gets himself under control a little bit.

“Yeah. Thanks. Hi!” Harry cringes at his unsorted way of communication but pushes past Liam non-the-less. He doesn’t get far before he turns back around and starts talking again.

“I just wanted to see if you are okay, since you didn’t really look like yourself earlier today and then you didn’t answer my text asking whether you were alright, so I decided to come over and see how you were doing, but you look fine to me and maybe this was a stupid idea. Actually, I think I should go, you clearly need more rest or want your space or else you would have texted me that you were fine and now I’m making it worse by talking too much and I should really just go.”

Harry moves forward but doesn’t get past Liam to the door because Liam is holding him back with a hand on his arm.

“Harry, calm down. I was just taking my time. I know I should have answered you, but I didn’t think you’d care that much to be honest.”

“How could I not care about you? Liam, that is the stupidest thing you have ever said. Of course I like you.” Liam would like it very much if Harry wouldn’t look him in the eyes with all the honesty in the world when he says these words. “Care about you, I mean, we are friends, of course.”

“That … I… I care about you, too. Just so you know.” Liam says.

“Great.” Harry murmurs. All of the sudden the space between them is too small and Liam feels like Harry is suffocating him.

“Do you want something to drink? I’m sure the mini fridge has something to offer.” Liam rushes out as he lets go of Harry and scurries past him towards the main room of his suite.

“You don’t want me to go?” He hears Harry ask.

“No, I quite like the company. Feels a bit empty with no one here.” Liam admits.

“Then I’ll stay.” He takes a seat on the couch and leans back, getting comfortable. Liam notes that he is now wearing different clothes than at the airport, he must have changed before he got in the car that took him to Liam. Liam wishes he would have done the same.

Liam takes the two water bottles he’s been staring at out of the fridge and sets them on the small coffee table. He ponders on whether he should just stand there or maybe lean against a chair or something when Harry pats the cushion next to him, making that decision for Liam.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, then Harry speaks up.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” He says this more to his hands than to Liam, even if he has turned his body slightly towards Liam. Harry doesn’t continue so Liam tells him to “Go on.” It still takes Harry a few tries to get across what he wanted to say. Once he does, it is not what Liam expected. Not like Liam had any idea what Harry would like to talk about. His mind is blank except for the constant though of _Harry is here!_

“Tom spoke to me. On the flight. When I couldn’t escape he had said. I wanted to lock myself in the toilet cabin, but then what if someone really had to go? It is a long flight after all.” He gestures with his hands wildly as if that would emphasise his point.

“He told me everything, even when I just wanted him to stop. He almost recited all of our years together. And I am … we still aren’t back to being friends, that will take some time, but it will never be like before.”

“That’s … it is a start. No one expects you to forgive him right away.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know if I can ever forgive him. And like, the whole situation is making me crazy. I don’t want to stay with ‘Stardust Records’ but I also don’t want to make the same mistake again and get used.” Liam just nods. He knows exactly what Harry is feeling like. Now would be a good time as any to tell him that he has already done some research.

“I looked after a new record label for me. And Amanda send me contacts of some managers and agents she trusts.”

Harry looks up with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape.

“What did you look for exactly when you were looking at labels? It’s just that I feel like I am all alone in this. You had Amanda there to help you while I am over here feeling like a fish on dry land.” Harry confesses.

“You can always just come talk to me, Harry. We are in this together.” He gives Harry an encouraging smile and launches into a detailed explanation on what he looked for and where he found the information. He even shows Harry some of his favourite choices.

It feels like no time has passed when Paddy knocks on the door and lets himself in.

“Liam, it is time to get ready. We are leaving soon. Oh, hi Harry.” He says as he approaches them. Liam hastily looks at his watch and sees that it is way past midday, almost afternoon already.

“Hello, Paddy.” Harry greets back.

“You want to come with, or are you heading back to your place?” His bodyguard asks him. Harry looks at Liam as if Liam should answer for him. It is Harry’s decision, so he just shrugs, leaving it up to him. If Harry wants to hang out on set somewhere in the desert instead of staying in air-conditioned rooms, then Liam will not be held responsible.

Harry looks like he is contemplating it.

“I would love to, but I have some research to do that is terribly important.” He gets up from the couch, waves at Liam and Paddy and then he is off.

“Well, we got food in the car if you want some.” Paddy offers and Liam thinks he really lucked out with his bodyguard.

“Best bodyguard in the world!” He calls out as he makes his way into the bathroom to get ready.

\---

The shoot was really fun, but Liam will probably have sand in his throat, ears, eyes and nose for the rest of the year.

They shot in a desert, parts on firm ground and parts on sand. A wind machine is the main reason for his troubles, but as a professional Liam sang right through the pain and remembered to move. He even did one of those dramatic ground punching moves. For a better effect that part was filmed on some sort of mini trampoline to have the sand spring up high, looking really cool in slow motion.

The white clothes he was wearing weren’t so white anymore in the end, but Ben counted on that. He even told Liam to get a bit sandy before they started filming to make it more authentic.

It was fun, but Liam is exhausted to the bone now. He had been up for more hours then he ought to be. The sun set ages ago, but Liam just now arrived in his hotel room. He takes a shower to get most of the sand off and then falls straight into bed, not bothering with an alarm because he knows Paddy will wake him.

Turns out that Liam doesn’t need his bodyguard to wake him, the sun does that for him. When the first rays of sunshine filter through the windows and tickle Liam’s face, he wishes he had stayed up long enough last night to at least close the blinds.

Trying to see the positive aspect, Liam realises that he now has time for a proper breakfast and orders something from room service. In the time it takes for the food to arrive, Liam brushes his teeth, washes his face and puts on something decent as to not scare the hotel staff.

The food is gone long before Paddy comes to ‘wake’ Liam which leaves enough time to do a morning workout. In retrospective, Liam should have done the workout first and then have eaten breakfast, but to his luck his breakfast doesn’t make a reappearance.

The shower gets Liam ready for the day ahead, making him feel as good as new. Not soon after the crew leave for today’s destination. Liam and Paddy follow, together with Harrys assigned bodyguard they pick up Harry and head to the beach as well.

Liam gets to stay under a tent and watch while Harry is filming his scenes in the water, doing quite similar moves to what Liam had done yesterday. When Harry gets out of the water, his black shirt is clinging to him like a second skin and to Liam’s horror, so do the black jeans. Liam really didn’t need a reminder of how nice Harry’s legs look.

While Harry gets covered in towels and blankets to get warm, Liam is getting roughed up to embody the wild side of earth, his role in the video. His duet partner is supposed to represent the sinfulness of water and Liam couldn’t imagine a person more fitting for this role.

When Harry is mostly dry again, Ben calls them over to give them more directions. They’ll first shoot the scene from behind Harry, showing Liam appearing between the rocks and going over to Harry who will rise fully out of the water when Liam comes near. Then they will shoot the same thing from Liam’s side, getting a close-up of the water droplets sliding down Harry’s face and upper body. The camera will turn then and get a close-up of Liam with sand in his beard and the sharp angles and soft rounds of his figure.

The part they are shooting will only feature the latter part of the song. The two singers are supposed to end the song singing the lyrics to each other, with raw emotion and the most dramatic intentions.

Liam is not sure what Winston means by that but he figures he can work something out. After the bridge, their notes get quite intense, so it shouldn’t be a problem to make it look more dramatic than the lyrics are.

They don’t get the walking scenes right on the first try, not like anyone expected them to, but there are only so many times Liam can watch Harry walk out of the water like _that_.

About the seventh time is the time Harry nails his shot and Liam would be lying if he said he weren’t a little bit hard.

The close-ups are much easier to master which leads them quickly to the last scene of their music video. The camera is placed to Liam’s left, shooting them in profile.

When the camera man motions for them to start, Harry and Liam erase the remaining distance between them until they are only half a meter apart. Both of them sang since the cameras were rolling and although Liam has sung with Harry before, this is different. They are singing to each other and Liam can’t help reflecting the lyric back to his own life, to how Harry makes him feel. It doesn’t help that there is still water dropping from Harry’s hair onto his face.

Liam’s eyes follow a tiny drop of water down the high of Harry’s cheekbones, caressing the soft of his cheeks, sliding along the sharp line of his jaw. Subconsciously, he takes a step forward, getting a closer look of that drop, only that Harry belting out a note distracts him and Liam’s gaze zeros down on Harry’s mouth.

His lips are redder than usual and Liam can’t help but wonder whether Lou had put lipstick on him. He knows that Harry isn’t opposed to wearing lipstick and Liam doesn’t mind that he does, it’s just that his lips are redder than they have any right to and Liam’s only response to that is to close the remaining distance between them and kiss him. His hands come up automatically to rest against Harry’s waist and jaw to line up their mouths perfectly. Harry’s lips are a bit cold against his, so are his hands as they wind their way around Liam’s neck to pull him closer.

Going on instinct, Liam deepens the kiss. Not too filthy, only wanting to taste Harry beneath all the sea water.

His brain has some information on sea water that has him slowing down the kiss, ending it with a soft nibble at his duet partners lower lip. The taste of sea water gets stronger and finally Liam can pin-point the connection. He opens his eyes abruptly and is met with Harry’s, the green so intense in the small ring left around his blown pupils.

His lips are even redder than before, only this time Liam knows the reason for that. He has kissed Harry. Not only did he kiss Harry but he kissed Harry on the set of their music video in a scene where no kissing was scripted.

Liam turns around to where he knows the film team is standing, ready to apologise. But Ben beats him to it, holding up a hand to shut him up before he could even say anything. It is remotely quiet on the beach. Their song that accompanied the shoot has shut off and everyone is staring at him. At them. To late Liam realises that he is still holding onto Harry. He steps back, letting his hands fall to his side and effectively dislodging Harry’s hands from where they were toying with the hair in his nape.

“That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I love it. The kiss gives the video and the song a new dynamic. Let’s watch the shot and we’ll decide if we should reshoot it.” Ben says, then turns to the monitor to watch the last few minutes of footage.

 _Reshoot?_ Liam thinks. He can’t do that. He hadn’t even planned to do _that_. He is so embarrassed and mad at himself for ruining his friendship with Harry with a kiss for god’s sake. It was nice of him to not push Liam away, that would have been really embarrassing. But Liam can’t look at him. His heart is beating so fast he thinks it will tire out soon. Would he look at Harry and see the pitying look he must have in his eyes, he for sure would die right that second.

Liam would definitely prefer that to having to hear Harry tell him that he thought they were friends and that the sex thing was a one-time thing and that he didn’t think Liam would be so stupid to try it again. That he is disgusted by Liam’s feeling for him that have been visible from space.

A finger snipping in front of his face brings him back to reality. Ben looks concerned so Liam musters up the best fake smile he can produce right now.

“The scene was perfect. We will make some audio takes to record the sounds of the ocean, but that is a wrap for you guys.” The film crew cheers and claps, but Liam wants nothing more than to hide. He half-heartedly claps as well and does his best to thank everyone on set for their work and participation on this project.

He ignores Harry calling after him as he makes his way to movable dressing room and gets changed quickly. Then he heads to the car where Paddy is already waiting for him. Paddy wordlessly opens to car door for him, but worry is written in his eyes. Liam sits in the car for two minutes at most when Harry takes a seat next to him, covered in blankets again.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Liam sees him opening his mouth to say something. Liam cannot deal with rejection and accusation right now. He just can’t.

“Can we not talk about it?” He rushes out. He chances a quick glance at Harry who has a wrinkle in between his eyebrows which means he is thinking. His mouth is still open from when he tried to say something.

“I guess.” Harry answers. He doesn’t look all too happy about it, a bit disappointed.

They take off to their accommodations and for once Liam is glad for the awkward silence between them. He thinks of ways to talk himself out of a confrontation and he thinks about what he could say once Harry does ask him why he kissed him.

Liam can’t imagine a scenario where their friendship doesn’t end or they wouldn’t be weird around each other.

It was way different from when they had sex. Back then they hated each other and the tension between them kind of called for a diffusion and sex was the easiest way to do that. Although Liam wouldn’t have chosen that option, but Harry kind of made that decision for him.

Now though they have worked out their issues and became friends. Trust is an important part in both a friendship and a relationship and how could Harry possible trust him again when Liam just kind of kissed him during a video shoot. It wasn’t like a peck that he maybe could write of as friendly affection. It was a passionate kiss, initiated by the way Harry looked so hot that Liam couldn’t hold himself back.

On the way to Harry’s house Harry leans forward and whispers something to Paddy. With the way that they are glancing at Liam every now and then Liam knows they are talking about him.

And so it comes that when they arrive on Harry’s property that both of them get out while Liam is left in the car feeling queasy. He watches them talk for a minute before Paddy comes back to open Liam’s door.

“I know you don’t want to do this, Liam, but it is for the best.” His bodyguard tells him. “You need to get this sorted out and I promise you that you will feel better afterwards. I will pick you up no matter at what time you call, but you need to at least stay long enough to hear him out. Listen to him, let him talk. Maybe you will be wiser then. Now get out and get your man.” Paddy has always been more a friend than an employee to him, but he really is more than Liam deserves.

Liam hesitates for a few seconds, taking a deep breath before getting out, following Harry to the front door of the building. While Harry opens the door, Liam watches Paddy and the driver disappear in the distance, the gate to the property already closed.

“This is it.” Harry gestures down the front hall with his arms spread. Liam walks in slowly, taking in his surroundings. The house doesn’t look much lived in, empty shelves everywhere.

“You don’t spend much time here, do you?” Liam asks, too late realising that it sounds a bit rude. But what does he have to lose anyway? He already ruined everything…

“Not really. I am moving a lot. L.A. is like a second home to me, but the houses never feel too comfortable. They don’t feel like home to me.” Harry admits. “Would you like a tea?”

Liam nods in affirmation, busying himself with looking at the rare pictures in the living room while Harry gets the drinks. Almost all of the photographs are of two women who look so much like Harry, they have to be relatives, and a middle-aged man. They all look rather cosy together.

He settles on the couch and waits for Harry to bring in the hot beverages. Not long after Harry comes back with a tray and sets it down on the coffee table. He prepares his tea and orders for Liam to fix his own cup.

“It is criminal how much sugar you put in your tea. I won’t be held responsible for the consequences.” Liam fakes outrage, but makes his own tea.

He has almost emptied his cup when Harry speaks up.

“You kissed me.”

Liam knew they would be talking about the kiss but he didn’t expect Harry get right to it.

“I did.” There is no denying that.

“But why did you kiss me?” Harry presses on.

“It was kind of a spurt of the moment decision.” He doesn’t think there is a way where they would come out of this conversation as the friends they were before the flight to L.A., he might as well take a chance and bullock it up completely. “To be honest, I fancy you like crazy, Harry. And I get it if you are weirded out by that because we are friends and I would totally understand it if you don’t want me to hang around anymore. I just think that you deserve to know what I feel for you.”

“So, you kissed me because you like me and not because it would look good in the video?”

“I completely forgot cameras were there.” He admits. Harry scoots closer until their thighs are touching. “Aren’t you mad?” It is a reasonable question but Harry just chuckles.

“Why would I be? I have waited for that to happen for ages!” At Liam’s unbelieving expression, he explains. “I have been crushing on you for a while now. Tom used to make fun of me. Only I could fall in … fancy my arch enemy. I have to be honest with you, the physical attraction came first. You are just so fit. And then we started spending more time together and you honestly are the cutest, most amazing person ever.”

Liam hears what Harry is saying but his brain hasn’t caught up yet. Slowly the information filters in. Harry fancies him, he likes him back. Liam smiles so bright his eyes almost squeeze shut. It seems like Harry can’t help but mirror his smile.

Knowing he is allowed to do it now, Liam leans forward and kisses Harry lightly on the lips. They are both still smiling so their teeth clink a bit. But this is the happiest Liam has felt in a while, so he doesn’t mind that one bit.

He leans back a bit, just far enough to lean their foreheads together. They are still smiling and it is so ridiculous that Liam chuckles.

“I never ever thought you could like me back. I thought you would be really offended if I told you because you were so casual about all the touching and the sex.” Liam confesses.

“I just didn’t want my heart broken.” It is sad to hear Harry say that.

“I’m sorry.” Liam looks down, but Harry makes him look into his eyes again with a finger under his chin.

“Don’t be sorry. You are here now and this is more than I could ever have hoped for.” He presses a light kiss to Liam’s lips. “Just promise me that you’ll stay, because if you won’t than I’d like to know in advance.”

“I’m staying. For as long as you’ll have me!”

“I will never let you go!”

With that he takes Liam’s face in his hands and kisses him. The kiss is full of feelings and want. Liam is overwhelmed and easily pushed against the back of the couch. Harry straddles his lap and deepens the kiss. A moan escapes the brown-eyed singer.

His hands come up to rest on Harry’s hips, dragging him in closer. Until now he had let Harry lead the kiss, but the desperation grows in him. He wants to have all of Harry, take everything he can get.

Liam’s hands find Harry’s ass and squeeze, making Harry moans into the kiss. Liam uses the distraction to trail his lips from Styles’ mouth to his jaw, pressing a kiss just under his jaw line. He slides his lips down further, pressing kisses to every part of skin in his way, tasting the dried sea water. When he finds Harry’s pulse point, he takes a moment to appreciate how fast Harry’s heart is beating, how his pulse flutters when he squeezes his bum again. He can’t resist sucking a love bite there, marking Harry up.

Styles leans his head to the side, baring more of his neck. Liam takes the opportunity and litters his neck with love bites, loving how Harry hisses every time he pushes into one, feeling his hips jump forward.

He reaches the top button of his shirt and slowly opens it, loving how Harry shivers when he lets his mouth ghost over his throat. He kisses the newly exposed skin while unbuttoning the shirt completely. He slides the fabric over Harry’s shoulders, taking in his view. On his lover’s torso are many interesting tattoos, but his left arm is covered. He has seen the tattoos a few times now, but he never allowed himself to look closely. Now that he has Harry, he takes his time to appreciate the art. He traces the outline of the swallows with his tongue, sucking a bruise right over his sternum, Harry’s hands in his hair, holding on for dear life. He gets as far down as it is physically possible for him with Harry still on his lap.

Liam is painfully hard, looking down reveals that Harry is as well. He looks thoroughly wrecked already, bruises covering his upper body and neck, chest heaving and eyes hooded. Liam lets his fingers trail over the bulge in his lover’s trousers. Harry groans at the contact, eyes opening enough to look at where Liam is palming him now. He pushes up into the touch, searching more friction.

The brown-eyed lad has mercy with him and opens his trousers, dragging them down far enough that he can reach into Harry’s pants to get his cock out. Harry breathes out a sigh of relief when Liam gets a loose fist around him.

He only just found out he was bisexual a few weeks ago and he has only ever been with Harry when it comes to having sex with a male. That night he barely needed to do anything, so he is just as inexperienced as before. Suddenly he is nervous, not knowing what to do. Harry notices his hesitancy.

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to. So badly. Just, tell me what to do, yeah?”

“Good. I want you to, too. There is nothing you can do wrong here. It is just like jerking yourself off.”

Encouraged by Harry’s words, he tightens his fist a little and strokes his dick. Harry’s dick is so hard, Liam feels proud for being the reason for that. He is moaning loud, unashamed, letting Liam know how good he makes him feel.

“Yes, Liam. Just like that.” He manages to get out.

Liam quickens his pace, running his thumb over the head just like he likes. Harry is breathing hard, looking down at where Liam is gathering his pre-come to lubricate the slide. The brown-eyed singer leans back in, mouthing at his lover’s neck, sucking new love bites into his skin. Harry is thrusting up into his fist, then he is coming with an almost silent gasp. Liam looks down just in time to see the last squirts of come pulsing out of his cock and striping his hand and Harry’s stomach.

“Fuck.” He mutters. Harry sags against him. After a while he starts nosing at Liam’s jaw, getting him to kiss him. Liam complies easily, setting a gentle hand at the side of Harry’s face. He kisses him slow and deep until Harry has recovered from his orgasm.

“I want to ride you!” He whispers in Liam’s ear, then grinds down on Liam’s still very hard dick. He bites his lips to keep the moan in. Liam just nods his head, not trusting his voice. The image of sinking into Harry, filling him up, is enough to grip Harry’s hips tight to stop him from grinding down. “If you keep doing that, I’m gonna come.” He grits out.

Harry sets his hands over Liam’s, loosening his grip, then he stands up. His trousers are open and his dick is hanging out, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it. “We wouldn’t want that, would we? Can’t come inside me if you come now.” He is smirking, knowing full well what effect these words have on Liam.

He holds his hand out for Liam. “Come on. I have a bed we could christen.” Liam takes the offered hand and lets himself be pulled off the couch and to the master bedroom.

Harry turns around and kisses him again. He pushes his hands under Liam’s shirt, feeling the abs, then pushing it upwards. They struggle a bit getting it off of Liam since Harry isn’t keen on stopping kissing Liam for only a second, but they manage eventually. They rid themselves of all the clothes they are wearing before they finally get on the bed.

Harry lays lube and condoms on the duvet, then he lays down on his back, a pillow beneath his hips and spreads his legs. He pulls Liam down on top of him and kisses him again.

“I’ll tell you what to do.” He says as he pushes on Liam’s shoulder to make him climb down his body. He takes the lube and coats Liam’s fingers, then he positions them at his hole. “Before you can get inside me I need to be prepped. You have to be careful because I don’t stretch naturally like a girl does, but that is what fingering is for. It is just like with any girl you have been with, you just need more lube and more time.”

At the worried look on Liam’s face, he adds: “You’ll be fine. Don’t stress yourself out. I’ll tell you if you do something wrong.”

Liam presses a thankful kiss on Harry’s hip, then he circles his rim with a lubed finger. Once he has loosened up, he slips the first finger inside, setting up a rhythm, working it in a bit deeper every time he pushes in. He searches Harry’s face for any displeasure, but Harry just pushes Liam’s hair out of his face and massages his scalp.

“You are doing good.” His voice is a little raspier and fuck, if that isn’t hot.

“You can add a second one.” Harry says after a while. Liam lines up a second digit, slipping it inside along the first one on the next push. It doesn’t take long for Harry to push back against his fingers, wanting more. Liam gets a third finger inside him, stretching his fingers and digging into his prostate almost by accident.

Harry moans out loud at that, body jumping a little. Liam searches for that spot again, trying to hit it on every thrust.

“Want you.” Harry says, voice hoarse with lust. His eyes are dark, pupils so dilated that there is barely any green left. His dick is hard again, waiting to be touched.

Liam takes his fingers out and puts on a condom. Harry grabs the lube and spreads it over Liam’s dick, making him real slick.

Then he pushes him down onto the bed and sling his legs over him. In wonder Liam stares at him as Harry takes Liam’s dick in his hand and lowers himself down until he can feel the head pushing against his rim. When he sinks down, Liam tries to think lots of unsexy thoughts because fuck, Harry is tight. He wants to move so badly, but he keeps still, letting Harry adjust to the size of him.

Once Harry does, he settles his hands on Liam’s chest and lifts himself up and down. He starts slow but quickens his pace when he hears Liam’s moans.

It is mesmerising to watch Harry; his eyes closed as he tries to find the right angle, hands clutching Liam’s chest to steady himself, his dick bouncing up and down with his movements. Liam wants so badly to touch, so he settles his hands on Harry’s hip. That has his eyes flying open, sitting up straight and spreading his legs. He removes his hands from Liam’s chest and uses them to help his legs stay open. He struggles a bit with keeping his balance, but once he is steady, he bounces on Liam’s dick without abandon, keeping his eyes locked on Liam.

The change in position gives Liam a perfect view of his cock entering Harry’s hole over and over again.

“Fuck!” He mutters, wanting to cover his eyes to last longer but finding himself not being able to look away. Harry looks blissed out, clearly enjoying himself. Liam can’t wait any longer, he angles his legs and starts pushing up into Harry, meeting him on his downward thrusts.

When Liam feels that familiar tug in his lower stomach he starts pumping Harry’s dick. He falls forward a little, his movements falter as he tries to push up into Liam’s hand and down onto his dick.

Not long after, Liam comes inside of Harry, moving his hand even faster to get Harry off as well. He tightens around him, milking him dry as he coats both of their stomachs in come.

They lay there for a bit, both coming down from their high before Liam pulls his dick out and gets rid of the condom. He uses his shirt to get the come off his stomach and does the same for Harry before he cuddles up behind him.

“This alright?” He asks.

“Yes, I like it.” Harry answers, draping Liam’s arm around him and intertwining their fingers on his stomach. His breathing is slowing down and Liam knows he will drift off to sleep soon.

“I really like you.” He whispers into Harry’s nape. Harry squeezes his hand.

“I really like you, too, Liam.” He says and cuddles back against him until they are pressed together from head to toe. Liam tangles their legs together and presses a kiss to the top of Harry’s spine. He falls asleep to his duet partners quiet snores.

\---

**LONDON CELEB NEWS**

**Major loss for ‘Sunboth records’ and ‘Stardust records’.**

**Almost a month after the release of their first duet ‘Tear my world apart’, high selling artists Liam Payne and Harry Styles confirm that they are leaving their record labels for good.**

**The couple also announced that they have already signed with the rather unknown record label ‘Triple Strings Ltd’. The record label was founded by singer/songwriter Louis Tomlinson in the beginning of 2013. Until now, he discovered many artists that have made their way onto the charts. Although Styles and Payne play in a different league, we have no worries about their future, they are in capable hands.**

**We have been on the ride with them since their auditions at the X-Factor, we can’t wait to see what life has in store for them now.**

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thank you for taking the time to read my story.


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